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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25248964">Lost in Space</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/pernatius/pseuds/pernatius'>pernatius</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Humor, Everyone Needs Therapy, F/F, I Don't Even Know, I can fit so many fight scenes into this baby, I do too, Original Characters - Freeform, Original Female Character - Freeform, Original Male Character - Freeform, Outer Space, Science Fiction</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 05:14:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>50</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>108,237</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25248964</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/pernatius/pseuds/pernatius</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The story follows the journey of an unnamed Space Explorer as she ventures out further than humanity was ever allowed for the sake of love. </p>
<p>[note: Every part is written within the span of a week. Monthly updates. Also, not explicit rape, but it's implied]<br/>[part 1: ch 1-5 | part 2: ch 6-10 | part 3: ch 11-15 | part 4: ch 16-20 | part 5: ch 21-25 | part 6: ch 26-30 | part 7: ch 31-35 | part 8: ch 36-40 | part 9: ch 41-45 | part 10: ch 46-50]</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>An unnamed Space Explorer and an alien sharing the same characteristics as Greek mythology’s Minotaur must venture outer space together after just barely escaping a band of Space Pirates as she tries to remember why she’s so far away from Earth.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Chapters 1-5 are part 1.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I cough. I feel my fingers gently stroke my upper lip. I see blood has been painted onto them. It’s my blood and my lip has been split open. Setting my hand down, letting it paint the floor beneath me so that I can leave a trace of my time here, I look at the many lines before me. They’re bars and on the other side of them is another helpless, lost creature. As my head is raised, as it watches them, theirs is lowered. We both may be shackled, are severely wounded, and most importantly broken, but I can’t help myself to follow suit. I can’t hold my head down. I have to keep my head up. I have to for her. </p>
<p>The ground beneath me rumbles. It follows the same rhythm as my heart. As heavy as the sound is, as fearsome as it is, I sit relaxed, or as relaxed as a prisoner could be. A creature far larger than any man and with a figure akin to a Minotaur, one of my many captors, has his scar-covered back turned to me. I watch the bars lower. My eyes follow the other prisoner as he is dragged by the shackle around his neck. For a split second, our eyes meet, and for that short time, I got to read the book that was his life. </p>
<p>Seconds turned into minutes. Minutes turned into hours. A water droplet descends before me from the ceiling. I raise my hand out, the one now stained in my blood, and let it splash onto the red paint. With the light flickering, I know. I know the outcome. I know the other prisoner is no more. </p>
<p>He was someone younger than me. Maybe a decade. Five years at the very least. Throughout his entire life, he’s had to live, survive, through war. His planet has been under constant warfare, one that’s started decades before his lifetime. When he was of age, he was forced to fight for something he had lost faith in many years prior. It wasn’t even his planet’s fight, to begin with. It was some other planet’s, one that’s light-years away, yet their bloodlust became entangled with his planet. It entangled with him, and in the end, after all the sacrifices and losses, he became just another casualty. </p>
<p>The bull-like creature from before now stood before me. He huffed, his nostrils flared because of it, and yanked me out of the wall. I soon mirrored the other prisoner.</p>
<p>He threw me. My back slammed against the wall. Slowly, I got myself up.</p>
<p>My eyes met with his. “Sit,” he grunted. I limped towards the other seat, the one sitting right across from him. Once I sat down he pressed his hoof onto the end of my chain. He then pulls me and my chair closer to him. His musk causes my stomach to churn. “Your beauty manages to bring even my cold heart to melt,” he continued.</p>
<p>“Is that what that was?”</p>
<p>“You should be honored. I don’t get fond of many women, especially not,” his hand clutches my face, “humans.”</p>
<p>“A touch of speciesism won’t get you far with me.”</p>
<p>“If I find a liking to something then it’s already mine. I don’t care about your input, but you should about mine.” His hoof, the one that’s been resting on top of my chain, slowly twists. I begin to choke, causing me to claw at the metal tightly wrapped around my neck. Soon my vision begins to fade. Before I can blackout he lets go. </p>
<p>The air is icy, yet it felt so good to breathe in. It gave me the same feeling as drinking a glass of cold water on a hot summer day inside my childhood home that was unable to afford AC. He smirks as I come to realize my place in this conversation.</p>
<p>“Just because you are a woman, especially one I have grown interested in, that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten who you are. You are a prisoner on this ship. However, I don’t plan to treat you as roughly as I did with the previous prisoner that sat on your seat. Now unless you want me to treat you as I treated him I suggest you answer me with both respect and truthfulness,” my silence brings him to continue, “Why are you in this quadrant, human?”</p>
<p>“I,” my eyes look down at my hands, “don’t know.”</p>
<p>“You are not like any other human, are you not?”</p>
<p>“What?”</p>
<p>“You are not a civilian. No regular human has access to the type of technology your spaceship carries, one of which got you this far. That spaceship was manufactured from your government, yes?”</p>
<p>“Yes?”</p>
<p>“Then, why are you out here? What is your government planning to do?”</p>
<p>“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”</p>
<p>“Your dedication towards your government is pushing my leniency towards you.” Slowly, he begins to twist the chain. </p>
<p>“I don’t know. I swear I don’t know. Please, believe me,” I begged. </p>
<p>I could only melt his heart so far. He continued. My eyes watered as I slowly fell into unconsciousness, but to my luck, something hit the ship. We both were flung out of our chairs because of it. As he gets back up, I see that he grabs the back of his head. His eyes widen when they meet with his hand. His eyes meet with his blood. My captor’s shock quickly shifts into anger. He slams the newly made fist into the floor. </p>
<p>The door swings open. It reveals another captor, but this one is much slimmer and shorter. He’s just a foot taller than me, which is still taller than most, but at least the possibility of outmaneuvering them is far greater than if there had been two of them of the same stature. “The Commander has ordered-”</p>
<p>“What the hell hit us,” he snapped. </p>
<p>I take note of how the smaller of the two flinched at the snap. “Their ship...”</p>
<p>What was once luck is now turning into misfortune. </p>
<p>“What? How are they out here already? How did they even track us?”</p>
<p>“I don’t know, but The Commander ordered all units to head to the deck.”</p>
<p>“Then, we must’ve been hit pretty hard for him to let us low-classes join the upper ones. What did he say about our prisoner?”</p>
<p>It’s quick, but our eyes meet. The pity in the smaller one’s eyes gets me to gulp, but the silence surrounding them gets a disappointed, yet playful tone out of the other. “A shame. Hopefully, The Commander lets me keep the next one.” He steps out of the room, joining the other. </p>
<p>I slam my fists onto the door’s window. “Wait! You can’t just leave me here.”</p>
<p>The larger of the two is already on ahead, making his way towards the ship’s deck, but isn’t too far ahead to witness the hesitation plastered all over his companion. “What do you think you’re doing,” the malicious one questioned. </p>
<p>Before I knew it the door opened. Because of the surprise, I nearly fell, but the one that stood on the other side of the door caught me before I could hit the ground. Once more our eyes met, and I was about to muster my thanks, but with the brute, I’ve spent too long with then slamming his fist into what has become my savior’s face we both now fall. </p>
<p>The kinder one covers his now swollen cheek. He tries to stand back up, but he’s not quick enough. The brute has his hand wrapped around his neck. “You’ve always been the weakest among us. How dare you flaunt around this ship as if you deserve the same recognition, the same honor, as everyone else on here? The Commander took pity on you, yet you have the gall to go against his word,” he spat.</p>
<p>Underneath the brute’s grip, his thrashing slows. My heart drops. Even though he saved me he’s just like any other of the creatures on this ship, yet my humanity gets the better of this fixed resentment. As painful as it was, I forced the shackle off of me. My blood dripping off from my nails brings strength to that description. Using the chain, I then choke his assailant. He stumbles backward because of it. The bull-like creature tries fighting free, elbowing me. Because of my persistence, he uses what little strength he has left to try to slam us against a wall, but he’s stopped before he could. Horns are stabbed into him but missed his heart. </p>
<p>Fallen to the floor, bleeding, yet breathing, he looks up at the now bloodied horns of the smaller. “Even after that you can’t kill me,” he remains silent, “This will prove to be your greatest mistake. Far greater than coming out of that wretched hole we found you in. You should’ve died. You should’ve died along with the rest of your village. Actually, no. Live with this. Live with the fact you’re the only one left of your village. Live with the fact knowing that-”</p>
<p>With a kick from me into his wounds he not only shuts up, but he knocks out as well. “We have to get out to an escape pod. Now!” He grabs a hold of my hand and rushes me to wherever they are. </p>
<p>As I pant from all the running, he stands in front of the door unfazed. That is until someone shouts from across the hall, “Why is the prisoner-” He yanks me into the room. </p>
<p>Several escape pods stood before us. They’re circular and unsurprisingly enormous. Hearing a thud behind me, I turn around to it. The wall’s control panel has been destroyed. From the door’s window, I see several other bull-like creatures slamming their fists against the door. They shout too, but with how thick the door is I’m unable to make of what they’re saying.</p>
<p>“Hurry up. We don’t have that much time.” Turning back around to the escape pods, I see he’s already in one and is setting up some coordinates into the system. Instead of the creature that’s now an ally I see what I witnessed when I first came onto this ship. It’s dark. Several of his kind have their grip on me, holding me from fleeing, holding me back. Screams echo. Their voices are familiar. One of them steps towards me. A flash hits me. The next thing I know I get a burning sensation on my lip. It’s split. The one that did it lifts me by my collar. From the corner of my eyes, I see a handful of familiar figures, but I don’t know why that’s so. I know them, but I can’t remember their names. My eyes then meet his. </p>
<p>I’m brought back to reality with the shattering of glass. Again, he yanks me. I’m too close to him. Too close for comfort. My breathing becomes erratic. My vision becomes hazy. The last thing I see is those bull-like creatures banging on the space pod’s window. </p>
<p>My eyes open. I jerked up. The first thing I do is feel my neck. There’s nothing there. It’s either none of that happened, or it did happen and I’m free. With my eyes wandering around my surroundings I’m led to the latter. </p>
<p>Trees surrounded me. Although, they’re not like the ones on earth. These are more mushroom-like with their colors and shape, but with how they twisted into one another and how tall they are I’ll simply describe them as trees. </p>
<p>Before me blazed a small bonfire, and soon what stood on the other side of it is the creature I had escaped with. He sat down and threw wood into the fire, keeping alive what’s keeping whatever is lurking on between the trees away from us. </p>
<p>“I,” I grip the wrist he’s had to yank twice, “never got to…”</p>
<p>He’s looking into the fire rather than at me. “You’re awake. Um. I’m sorry about earlier.”</p>
<p>“It’s alright. If you hadn’t I would’ve been recaptured.”</p>
<p>“That’s a relief. I’ve been feeling so guilty about drugging you.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Drugging me? I thought you were talking about you yanking me and...about sharing a space pod…”</p>
<p>That last part has him look at me, taking note of how my voice lowered but then returns his eyes to the fire between us as soon as I stopped talking. “Your breathing. Um. Your heart rate was too fast. Too fast for an hour-long trip.”</p>
<p>“An hour,” I gulp, “How long...How long was I out?”</p>
<p>“A little under two hours.”</p>
<p>“Where are we?”</p>
<p>“Quadrant 10. We’re on a little habitable asteroid just off an asteroid belt.”</p>
<p>Looking up at the sky, I see thousands of glowing orbs. They sparkle in the black ocean above us. Some are white. Others are red with a faint tint of orange. And if you squint hard enough you can see the handful of blue ones hiding off in the distance, but this beauty doesn’t last long. An asteroid comes rotating across, cutting me off from the endless sky. It not only proves his words to be truthful but reminds me how far I am away from Earth. It reminds me how far away I am from home, from her. </p>
<p>“Quadrant 10,” I turn my eyes to the fire, “That’s twice the number we’re allowed to go.” I watch the fire maul the wood underneath it. I pay attention to the sound they make, the cries they make. One shouts a battle cry and the other cries for mercy. Slowly, painfully, the wood blackens, yet it’s not like it’s heated opponent is unscathed by this little fight of theirs. Pieces of it go up into the sky. They vanish before my eyes. They die off before they can ever touch the sky. </p>
<p>“I’ll get us something to eat before the fire dies down.” </p>
<p>I heard him speak, but I didn’t listen. He got up, but I didn’t move an inch. My eyes remained focused on the fire. No, not the bonfire. It’s instead focused on something else, something greater. I’m clutching something. I’m clutching a wall, or at least trying to. My footing stumbles. I can’t keep my balance. I can’t keep my breathing still. Everyone is screaming. It’s those same screams from before, and as they do my nose gets hit with the smell of fire. No, with the smell of burning flesh. An obnoxious, ear-piercing ring comes buzzing into my ears. A white flash blinds me, ending this. </p>
<p>I wake up with a growling stomach. A leg from an insect about the size of my own had been stabbed by a large, sharp stick. It leans above the bonfire. I grab it without thinking, but once it’s inches from touching my lips I hesitate. Instead of the insect’s foot, I think about him. I see his eyes. Lifting my worn-out shirt, I see the bruise is still there. I touch it and thankfully it no longer stings, yet the rib is still broken. It’s not going to heal any time soon, especially after all that running. As torn as I am, my eyes meet with my sleeping companion on the other side. The sight makes me smirk because the way he’s sleeping reminds me of a dog, curled up in a ball. No, not just a dog, my dog. Well, my old dog. As quickly as my mournful attitude came, it left as soon as my stomach growled once again. </p>
<p>Crunch. </p>
<p>A stomp punched the ground, waking me up. It’s too fast. Too fast for me to jump out of the way. Too fast for me to even blink. The impact caused my hair to blow back. Before me, my companion has his fingers tightly locked between the fingers of a creature similar to a beetle, but with four more eyes than the ones found on Earth and the obvious massive size increase. It looked like a standstill until the beetle-like creature jutted his knee into my companion’s chest, which caused him to let go. Thus, providing an opening, one of which lets the beetle scratch him across his face. </p>
<p>Blood dripped down his chin, but he didn't get the chance to even realize it is because the beetle once again made his mark. Across his chest, five scratches cut his fur and into his skin. The fur around the cuts is now drenched in his blood, which he’s yet again not able to get the chance to make of what even happened. Over and over the beetle sliced into my companion, but it’s not like I’m letting this happen to him, especially with how his cries make my heart drop. I don’t have the shackle anymore. I can’t choke him, stop him, as I did with that brute. I don’t have nearly enough strength as my companion. I don’t have anything, but when my eyes look away and look down that’s when I make a one-eighty on that train of thought.</p>
<p>The fur on his chest is being gripped by the beetle’s hand. He pulls him closer to his face. “How does it feel to be on the other end? How does it feel to suffer, huh?”</p>
<p>His weakened and nearly defeated opponent catches my eyes. He then looks at the beetle. “You must be her husband.”</p>
<p>“Brother,” he punched him again, “The slaughtering of my sister will be avenged.” He raises his hand and swings it, but he’s not fast enough. I stabbed the stick, the very one that held up his sister’s leg, into his chest. Letting go, the two fall to the ground. As my companion is too tired to move, the other is twitching and gagging out blood. His eyebrows furrow, speaking for what his voice couldn’t, as it is filled with his blood. </p>
<p>Running over, I lift him. He doesn’t move. With watery eyes, I move my shaky hand over to his wounds and gently touch them, which causes him to grunt. I give out a sigh of relief because of it. “You saved me. You saved me again. Why?”</p>
<p>He looks me in the eyes. His gritted fangs depart from one another. He lets out a long exhale. He’s about to speak, but before his words can be heard his body gives out. He blacks out. </p>
<p>All that’s left are ashes and embers. I watch the latter slowly die out with my knees tucked underneath my chin and arms wrapped around me. Behind me, I hear him sit up, so I turn my attention towards him. </p>
<p>His hands are pressing against the leaves I wrapped around his wounds. “Don’t worry I made sure they were cleaned before I put them on you,” I assured him. </p>
<p>“You took care of me,” he questioned with astonishment. </p>
<p>“Of course. You saved me. You’ve risked your life for me twice now. It’s only right to return the favor.”</p>
<p>“You have as well,” I look down at my hands and turn them into fists, mimicking how I clutched the chain and stick, “Back on the ship we were never treated with this much care. Wounds or not it was always mission after mission. Even if you had your leg cut off it wasn’t an excuse. They took pride in their wounds, so covering them up or even treating them was seen as shameful. I learned that the hard way.”</p>
<p>His gulp causes me to question, “The first time...why did you let me go?”</p>
<p>“I’ve lived with them for years. Basically my whole life. I laughed and fought alongside them, yet I knew. I knew I’d never be seen as one of them, but it’s not like I could’ve left. I had nowhere else to go, but even so, I just couldn’t let someone be left behind even a prisoner.”</p>
<p>“Even a human,” I added. </p>
<p>“Human or not we all feel the same things.”</p>
<p>“How about earlier?”</p>
<p>His eyes turn towards the giant beetle who is now being swarmed by what I assume are flys. “That...I was the reason why he came here. It wasn’t your fight.”</p>
<p>“Yet I was the one that finished it.”</p>
<p>“Sorry about that.”</p>
<p>“It’s alright. We’re both alive, right?”</p>
<p>“Living or dying is all the same to me.” I look away because of this. My attention returns to the embers. They’ve all just about died out. “I’m a dead man now. The Commander has probably gotten word by now, and once they manage to get them off their tail he’ll be looking for me.”</p>
<p>“I’m sorry.”</p>
<p>“Please, don’t be. As much as I’m dreading right now, this is at least better. It’s something new, but can I ask you something?”</p>
<p>“Of course.”</p>
<p>“As far as I know, it’s illegal for your species to be all the way out here. So, why are you here?”</p>
<p>“If I knew I would’ve told that brute.”</p>
<p>“Ah, so you really didn’t know.”</p>
<p>“You’re sounding like you were listening in.”</p>
<p>“I was.”</p>
<p>I turn back around to him. “Wait. Really? How long?”</p>
<p>“About a minute after he brought you into the room.”</p>
<p>“So, as he was getting uncomfortably-”</p>
<p>“I was scared of him. He’s the reason why I know what I know about how the ship works. Their pride and such.”</p>
<p>It’s not much. It’s subtle, but I’m able to see what his words failed to do from the look in his eyes. The abuse, the absolute sickening cruelty towards a young child, is shown before my eyes. He wasn’t that much older than a child who’s just started school. It was just a small cut, one of which was inflicted during a mission on a planet light-years away from his home, which was all he’s ever known up to that point. He was forced to play along with something he didn’t quite understand. I wasn’t there. I couldn’t have, yet I understood. I hear the cries he made. I smell the blood that brute’s forced out of him. I try to reach out to the defeated, broken, boy even though I knew it was pointless. I do so until I can place my hand on his shoulder, but when I do he disappears. The vision vanishes before my eyes. </p>
<p>“Well, I don’t remember much. For the reason and all. I get these flashbacks. All I know is I’m here for a girl.”</p>
<p>“A girl,” he questioned.</p>
<p>“Names aren’t popping up in my head.”</p>
<p>“Well, I honestly don’t know about the girl part, but we found you on the other side of a wormhole. More so you found us. You appeared before our ship. You came here with a crew.”</p>
<p>My eyes widen. Those screams weren’t just any screams. Those lifeless bodies all around me weren’t just any lifeless bodies. I feel my eyes water. I still don’t know their names. I’ve forgotten the memories, the memories we’ve shared, yet that doesn’t stop me from crying. I could sense he wants to place his hand on my back to try to soothe me, but he stops himself from doing so. <br/>“I’m sorry,” he said. </p>
<p>I see them. I see myself taking a seat on the ship. They’re all smiling. One of them gives me a thumbs up. One after the other they say something to me, but I don’t know what they are. I see their lips moving. I hear something come out of them, but I can’t make out the words. Even with this, I feel myself crying. I feel happy tears slide down my cheek. </p>
<p>An asteroid comes flying all too close to us, crushing the beetle. Its blood and guts spew out all around the site. Another one then comes flying, but this one is flying towards my wounded ally. He tries running away, but he’s too weak to. “Go. Just go to space-”  I do what he’s done to me twice already. I yank his arm, pulling him away from the impact just in time. We look at each other. He’s about to mouth his thanks, but with another one coming towards us I lead him away before he can.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>My legs dangle towards the crater, where the space pod has been resting. As for my eyes, they’re pointed towards the rising sun, but it’s not like the day has just begun here. This planet has two suns. The second one has just started to come up. So, it’s about to get a lot brighter and hotter. </p><p>I can feel my nooks and crannies rapidly become drenched in sweat because not only from the obvious change in being wet but how their sides are starting to stick together. He advised me to wait in the space pod because he knew this would happen, but I don’t want to be helpless. I can’t hear anything outside of it and my sight is limited to just its little window. Sure, it’s probably thick enough to keep me safe from whoever or whatever, but if something bad is happening to him I at least want to know. I don’t want him to handle it alone. I don’t want him to handle anything alone because I can empathize with him. Much of the life I lived before all of this is somewhere trapped in my head. It’s somewhere deep and dark, somewhere underneath the ocean that is my mind. I’ve tried swimming towards it, but each time the ocean’s waves push and make me crash back onto shore. Maybe this is why I’ve turned against the paranoid part of me. That humanity I talked about before must’ve, in reality, been me seeing myself as him. </p><p>“Hey,” his voice broke me out of my thoughts. </p><p>“Hey,” I look at him with squinting eyes, “What’s with that outfit?”</p><p>It’s not much of a change, but it’s still an obvious one. He’s wearing a cloak that’s a shade darker than the desert landscape around us. </p><p>“This planet is where every sort of criminal tends to hideout whenever they don’t have anywhere else to go.”</p><p>“Then, wouldn’t this be like a first place for them to come looking for you?”</p><p>“I’m not planning to stay here long.”</p><p>“Why are we here?”</p><p>“It’s very risky for us to be here, yes, but this is the best place in finding out information,” he hands me a cloak, “Now put this on, and I’ll explain more on the way.”</p><p>For a planet filled with criminals their flea market, what’s bustling right in front of me, is filled with so much liveliness. Besides the varying species, they’re all sharing an uplifting attitude. Some of them laugh with the people around them even with the men and women owning the little shops they’re shopping at. Most are smiling and the rest are either singing or whistling along. They all have an appearance that screams that they hold illegal backgrounds from their clothes to weapons attached to them to the scars they’ve managed to get over the years, yet they’re acting like their pasts never happened. It’s like what my companion to my left told me, “Human or not we all feel the same things,” or in this case, “Criminal or not we all feel the same things.”</p><p>I look from side to side. I hear all kinds of alien languages. Smoke from several sizzling grills hits me. The smell isn’t anything I’ve ever smelt before, but it causes my mouth to water. “Didn’t I just tell you to keep your head down and keep it straight,” he snapped.</p><p>His snap causes me to flinch. “I know, but…”</p><p>“This place is full of criminals, remember? If they catch you, a human, walking among them they’ll do everything they can to take you,” he whispered. </p><p>“I know. I’m sorry. Is wherever we’re heading at least close?”</p><p>“Yeah, after they pass we just have to make a turn over there.” He nudges to the left. </p><p>A robot that can be best described as a mix between an East Asian dragon and a phoenix comes zooming past us at such a speed we both nearly fall backward. It, upon reaching the entrance to the market, curves it’s body upwards so that it’s able to hit the sky. The robot, as soon as it does, goes onto shoot holographic fire all over the market. The illusionary fire, which changes color every other second, hops from shop to shop. As the crowd and I are distracted by the show, someone dressed up as a knight comes bargaining into the scene. Well, they’re sort of dressed like one. Add on some sci-fi elements to the classic knight armor seen in European history books, as taught in American schools, and that’s their outfit. They swing a sword made out of light towards the mechanical beast, which gets it to screech. A fight then breaks loose between the two. Everyone around us and I go onto cheering, but my companion is unfazed. He’s bored rather than amazed, as his arms are crossed over his chest. </p><p>A figure with the same proportions as a human, yet with a body made out of a jelly-like substance, makes himself known. It could be because of his accent, but he spoke a mix between what I assume to be his main language and the one I’m using right now. All I got was, “Head to the tent.”</p><p>I repeated what I understood as a question. He whispers, clearing up my confusion, “The rest of that show will be shown tonight in a tent a little off from here, but it’s one we can’t afford to see.”</p><p>As soon as the fight ends he heads towards where we’ve been waiting to go. While hesitation doesn’t touch him, it does for me. A crowd surrounded the owner. They blast him with awe. He then moves the person dressed up like a knight in front of him. The women in the crowd switch their interest to the knight, which causes the owner to let out a small, genuine smile. This brings me to do so as well, but it’s not because I shared the same reason as him. It’s because the sight brings out a memory. I was young. I was at a carnival. There was this girl who could bend at every single angle imaginable. She could even twist her head all the way around. I grew interested in her. I thought she was cool, so at the end of the show, I ran as fast as my little legs could. I ran everywhere in that tent, but I just couldn’t find her. I dragged myself out of there with tears in my eyes. Thankfully, I didn't have to be disappointed for long. To say I froze is putting it lightly. She bent down, so that she was eye level with me, and asked if I was lost. Because my tongue was tied, she took my hand and led me to security. My face was heated, my palms were sweaty, and my heart pounded in my chest. </p><p>“We’re about to enter a room filled with some of the universe’s worst criminals. Make sure to keep your head down, but most importantly you remain near me at all times.”</p><p>When his hand moves the curtains away from each other, I’m then faced with a strip club: lights are flashing, the ones with plenty of money to spend are whistling at the dancers, and a mix of alcohol and drugs filter over the scene. He steps into the room as if he belongs there. I do the same, yet if someone were to look into my eyes closely they’ll see the disgust and panic lying underneath that harsh exterior. </p><p>He steps over to a giant made out of stone. They look into each other’s eyes, and after some time the giant steps away. A door is revealed, which the giant opens for us. We both step in, but as the giant closes the door a bad feeling slithers up my throat.</p><p>A candle flickers on a table, giving light to the much darker room than upstairs. I look at him, but he doesn’t look at me. He steps on ahead. I try to grab his hand, as that bad feeling from earlier becomes rampant, but I stop myself. I take a seat right next to him and right when I sit down a gust of wind puts out the candle, bringing us into complete darkness. </p><p>A glowing, nearly transparent figure sits right across from us. “Five minutes longer than my previous prediction,” she said. </p><p>“You knew we were coming,” his curiosity spoke. </p><p>“Of course. Although, you knew ahead of time I have such a power because if not you wouldn’t have risked her life by coming to me. Maybe you asked because you weren’t completely sure.”</p><p>“People lie, especially those on this planet.”</p><p>“But men on the verge of dying don’t. Those cloaks look better on the both of you then it did with them.”</p><p>“Whether you really can predict, or not doesn’t matter. All I know is that you know.”</p><p>“And do you think I’m going to tell you what I know about her for free?”</p><p>His hands grip one of his horns. He wants to snap a piece of it off. The struggle between his grip and the horn causes him to scream in agony. His legs twitch and eyes water because of it. “Wait. You don’t need to do this. We can give her something else,” I pleaded. </p><p>I could melt that brute’s heart. I’ve melted a lot of my companions, but not for this. I couldn’t stop him from breaking off his own horn. He stabbed it into the table, between us and her. “This should be more than enough.”</p><p>“It is,” she takes the horn and strokes it.</p><p>“Tell us what we need to know, and then you can pay us the rest some other time.”</p><p>With a snap of her fingers, the horn vanishes before our eyes. She then goes straight to answering, “She’s a Space Explorer. Her wife was struck with a disease, but the cure for it isn’t found on her homeworld. It’s off in Quadrant 70 on a distant, icy planet.”</p><p>Her words slowly faded from my hearing. The memories came rushing back to me. She was isolated. She was in critical condition. I ran that night in the pouring rain. I nearly slipped. I snuck in and what greeted me as soon as I opened the ship was my crew. They all knew I would go to such a drastic length, go against orders. They agreed to join even though they knew as soon as we came back we would be arrested. My commander also knew she would get stripped of her title, something she’s worked decades for, yet she couldn’t just let a friend go alone. They couldn’t just let me go by myself, but we miscalculated. We wouldn’t even make it halfway before we used up all of our fuel. Everyone wanted to go back, but I didn’t. I pushed us through a wormhole, thinking it would make the impossible possible, but in the end, they died because of me. </p><p>I cried right in front of them. I slammed my fists onto the table. I could feel their eyes on me, but I didn’t care. All I cared about is that it was all my fault, which is something I didn’t realize I had been repeating out loud because he speaks out, “Even if it is what will moping about it do?” I don’t look at him. I look at my hands. “Take it from me, if you keep blaming yourself you’ll never be able to move. You’ll be stuck there. You’ll just let him hurt you.”</p><p>That last part, how he lowered his voice, causes me to finally look up at him. We both share something with the look we gave each other. “As touching as this moment is, the ones you’ve been running away from just landed.”</p><p>“What? How? How did they find us already?”</p><p>“A space pod can easily be tracked by its mothership.” My companion throws his fists onto the table, causing it to shake. “But if you want I can pay you the rest right now.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It wasn’t that far from where we sat. It sat in a little cave behind The Eyes of the Underworld, behind our glowing ally. It’s a space distortion pad, one that’s able to teleport anyone several light-years from it within seconds and is also the rest of the payment. </p><p>“It’s not capable of getting you straight to Quadrant 70, but it’ll at least get you halfway there. Get to my sister, and she’ll be able to bring you the rest of the way,” The Eyes of the Underworld explained. </p><p>“Your sister, what does she look like,” I asked.</p><p>“Ask around. Tell them you know me. You won’t be able to miss her after.” After she puts in the coordinates, the ground beneath us glows. My hair twirls around as an artificial breeze picks up underneath us. “It’ll take some time for it to charge. It’s been years since I’ve used it.”</p><p>“Thank you.”</p><p>“I always make sure everything is paid before my death.”</p><p>The footsteps above are heavy. I can hear the floorboards creak. With each passing second, they grow louder. They’re getting closer. I look at him. I see the fear in his eyes. I watch him gulp. “Is this thing ready yet,” I blurted out. </p><p>“Another minute or two.”</p><p>“We don’t have that much time. How can we trust you? What if you’re-” I’m cut off with him placing his hand on my shoulder. </p><p>“Not even criminals can lie when they’re on the verge of dying,” he reminded me. </p><p>A cough comes out of the glowing figure before us. Another comes. Then, another. Each one is stronger than the last. She places her hand on one of the cave’s walls, helping to keep herself upright.</p><p>I tried reaching out to her, but he stopped me from doing so. I look at him, but his face is dead set on the both of us remaining still. </p><p>“My predictions have gotten less accurate over the years because of my coming death,” she coughed out.</p><p>“I predict it to be a minute from now,” a familiar voice forces its way into our conversation. Moving my attention towards the voice, I meet with the eyes that have forever scarred my mind.</p><p>The Commander isn’t as bulky as the brute, but the difference between his build and my companion is apparent nonetheless. Unlike the last time I saw him, a scar now rests over his right eye. He steps towards us with his hands folded behind his back. </p><p>“Looks like my vision works just as fine with just one eye. An eye for a horn, Mikrovos,” he lets out a laugh, “Oh, who am I without my manners? The Eye of the Underworld, it’s been quite a while. Hasn’t it?” He bows before her. </p><p>“Leave,” she ordered him.</p><p>The Commander places his hand on her face. He caresses it, but she’s unfazed. His thumb softly strokes her cheek. “Ordering me? Where was that voice when we shared the same bed,” he playfully asked. </p><p>She swats his hand away from her face. “I said to leave. Now.”</p><p>He smirks. Without hesitation, he grabs her by the throat and lifts her. He begins to choke her, but all I can do is watch her thrash. She claws at his wrist. Her cries cause me to inch closer to her, but my companion is still intent on us remaining still.</p><p>“We have to-” What stops me from finishing my sentence this time is the look in his eyes. He wants to do something as well, but he knows he can’t. He knows it’s not his fight to be a part of. I know as well, but that empathy I spoke about before it back. I see myself in her place, but it’s not for long. He throws her to the ground. The glow around her is slowly fading. She’s barely clinging onto life. </p><p>“Another minute, actually,” he stepped over her and is now standing right in front of my companion, “This is but a taste, Mikrovos. I’ll let you go. I’ll let you do whatever it is you’re trying to, but at the last minute when you believe all is in your favor I’ll be there to see the despair in your eyes. When that happens, I want you to realize your place. My words are the truth. My words are final.”</p><p>With that, we’re finally able to teleport. The last thing Mikrovos sees is an ironic, angelic smile written on The Commander’s lips. As for me, the last thing I see is her glow fading out. </p><p>We appear onto something soft. It’s warm. Well, warm now with us on it. It’s a bed. I realize it is when someone flips on a light switch. Turning towards who did, I see a couple with just towels wrapped around their bodies. They give us confused looks. “Do either of you happen to know about The Eyes of the Underworld’s sister, “ I awkwardly asked. </p><p>If I could pay with Earth’s currency it would take me years to even afford a night here even with my job. The room is so huge that its bed, which is crimson red, can fit five copies of the brute. On the room’s edges, where the walls and floor touch, stretch strips of blue light. Speaking of the floor, beneath us is an aquarium. It’s full of various aquatic creatures that differ from size, shape, color, and even how they breathe. The rest, much, of the room, has been painted black. As beautiful as the room is, the events from earlier cut through the soothing atmosphere this room is trying to pull us into. We’re both anxious. I bite my lip. My companion, though quick, has his ears twitch. </p><p>“What’s taking her so long,” he huffed. </p><p>We’ve been waiting for what seems like hours, but thankfully our wait finally came to an end. A woman, who carries a strange mix of human and reptile features and has a scantily clad outfit loosely wrapped around her body, opens the doors, and comes into the room with her hips swaying from side to side. When she’s in front of us, she makes sure her cleavage is visible as her hands caress the sides of our faces. She turns to my companion. “I don’t usually get Tauvoxes,” she turns to me, “I especially don’t usually get women. This is the first time I’m getting a human as a client, but a client is a client.”</p><p>“Client,” I questioned with a high pitched voice. </p><p>She sits on my companion’s lap, which he’s uncomfortable about as he looks at me with pleading eyes. He wants her off of him. Her hips move up and down as she replies, “Of course. Are you two not here for me?”</p><p>“You’re The Eyes of the Underworld’s sister, right?”</p><p>“We may not look like sisters, but we did a long time ago.”</p><p>“Then, yes, we’re here for you, but not for this.”</p><p>She gets off of him, which has him give out a sigh of relief. “What do you mean?”</p><p>“Your sister teleported us here. She said you’re able to get us to Quadrant 70.”</p><p>“My sister...You’ve talked with my sister? I haven’t seen her in years. How is she?” Her sexual demeanor instantly shifted into a child-like one. </p><p>“She’s…” I look away from her, unable to look into the ironic innocence in her eyes. I didn’t want to break her heart, but it was only a matter of time before she realized because of the look on my face. </p><p>“She’s gone. My sister’s gone,” she quietly sobbed. This time he lets me help the person that’s hurting in front of me. I placed my hand gently on her shoulder, but she grabs me and squeezes me into a hug. She cries into my shoulder. It was awkward at first because I wasn’t sure where to place my hands, but after some time I’m able to hug her back. </p><p>A ship stood right in front of us. Saamuki, The Eyes of the Underworld’s sister, is already inside the ship. As for me, I’m on its steps. My breathing becomes erratic as it comes back to me. Everything was on fire. They screamed. My vision is blurred, yet I’m able to make out the blood. </p><p>“It’s okay,” Mikrovos comforted me. </p><p>Turning to him, I’m about to say my thanks, but her words break the moment we had. “Don’t you have a girl you’re trying to save?”</p><p>“Yeah. We also have The Commander on my tail. So, let’s get inside,” he told me. </p><p>The technology on the ship is way more advanced than the ones on earth. It definitely can fly us over to Quadrant 70 and even fly me back to Earth. Just like in her room strips of blue light circled the ship’s interior. Because I was at awe, I jumped when I heard another voice. It’s feminine and robotic. Following it, I see a floating, holographic head making its appearance in the middle of the ship. “Where shall I take you today, Captain Saamuki,” it inquired. </p><p>“Quadrant 70. The fifth planet.”</p><p>“Captain Saamuki, the temperature on that planet is far too cold for you even with your spacesuit,” the AI warned.</p><p>“This isn’t her mission. It’s mine,” I interjected. </p><p>“No,” he dismissed my words. I turn to him, offended. “That planet is far too cold for you as well, but my body can handle it. </p><p>“Mikrovos.”</p><p>“I don’t have a single doubt The Commander knows where we’re going. I also don’t doubt he’ll be waiting for us there. Risking one life is better than risking two.”</p><p>“Mi-”</p><p>“You have a girl waiting for you on Earth, remember,” I look away from him, “I don’t want her to keep waiting.”</p><p>With that, she ordered her ship to fly. The atmosphere became tense. It’s not because I hate him now. I care for him. I do, but I hate how he’s taking this into his own hands. I could speak out. I could argue with him, but I know it’s pointless because I know he’s right. Risking my life as well means all of their lives died for nothing. It also means breaking her heart.</p><p>It didn’t take long, but it felt like we were on that ship for days. He put on her spacesuit, which can stretch, and stepped out onto the icy planet. He looks at me. I mouth to him to come back. He then turns around and heads into the storm ahead without a word. </p><p>I pace around the ship. I’m not sure how long he’s been gone, but it feels like forever. Their screams come back to me, but I manage to push them away. “He’ll be back soon. I mean look at him. He’s bigger than either of us. He was one of the toughest pirates in the universe,” she tried to assure me. </p><p>Those are all true, but those don’t mean he’s invincible. I’ve seen him get hurt. I’ve seen him hurt. Against some other species besides his own, he’s got a chance, but against his own, it’s little to nothing. If he’s right and his old commander is already here then I hope nothing bad has happened. It’s probably because I’ve spent a lot of time with him, but I just can’t lose anyone else, especially not him.  </p><p>Speaking of him, I turn towards the window when he’s visible. I see him running with a fruit sealed inside a crystal, what we came here for, but I also notice his arm is now dislocated. “Mikrovos!”</p><p>The Commander rushes towards him, and before my eyes, his horns stab into Mikrovos’ chest. I bang my hands onto the window and cry out his name, which has Saamuki try to calm me down. Even stabbed through the chest he’s able to keep his hold on the crystal. Noticing this, he lifts Mikrovos by his broken horn and then proceeds to punch him in the stomach.</p><p>Heart aching, I rush over to the door. “What do you think you’re doing,” she demanded. </p><p>“What does it look like?” </p><p>“Are you insane? If he can’t-”</p><p>“I can’t just watch and be helpless.”</p><p>“You’ll be killed.”</p><p>“I’m sorry, but I can’t just watch him handle his fight alone. We’re a crew. No, we’re more than that. He’s my friend.”</p><p>As soon as I exited the ship, I can feel my fingertips begin to freeze. My skin color is already turning pale, but I’ve only been outside for less than a minute. Because of the temperature, I’m breathing heavily. It’s like someone is pushing down on my chest, which reignites the pain I felt towards my broken rib, yet I ran. I ran towards him. </p><p>“To think you repaid my pity with disgrace,” he spat to my severely wounded friend. </p><p>With my blurring vision, I shout towards the monster beating him. The Commander looks at me and lets out a chuckle. Letting go of Mikrovos, he steps over to me. Once he’s right in front of me he bends down just enough so that his face is all too uncomfortably close to mine. “Hit me.”</p><p>“H-Hit you? Y-You’re letting me hit you?”</p><p>“Of course. I may lead one of the best Space Pirates in the known universe, but I am not a man without my chivalry. Now give me your best shot.” There wasn’t any hesitation in it. I hit with the strength I had left, but all it did was cause him to smile. “My turn.” </p><p>His punch caused the broken rib to pierce through my skin. My blood squirted out of the site, which my hands shook over. Fallen to my knees, my breath, and consciousness dipped immensely. I faded in and out. With I falling to the ground, Mikrovos punches his old commander with such a might that he goes flying. My companion, with bloodlust boiling in his veins, then proceeds to endlessly beat the man he’s lived in fear under for most of his life. It’s the last thing I see before I blackout.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>His eyes are wide. Something broke in him. He no longer wanted to hold back. He no longer felt fear. Even with the immense amount of blood pooling onto the ice beneath him with every step he took, he somehow conjured up the strength to send his fist swinging, yet his opponent smiled through it. Sure, The Commander’s blood dripped out of his mouth, but he got what he came for. He saw the despair in my friend’s eyes. </p><p>I wake up with everyone on the floor. They’re all motionless. I wanted them to already be dead because of what’s to come, but I know that can’t be. I know they’re still alive because I’ve already lived through this once before. I was thrown back, hit my head hard onto the ground, but I’m still able to witness it. Although, just barely. They climb aboard the ship and drag us out of it. By that point, most of my memories were buried. I didn’t know them, but I cried for them. I cried as I saw them beaten by those pirates because of The Commander’s orders. Because they couldn’t answer his questions, he then turned to me. They watched helplessly when I was in his hands. Still, no one answered. Tired, he ended their suffering, but mine had just begun. Right, when they’re about to laugh as his hands are inches from touching me for a second, yet a much more repulsive time he whispers into my ear, “I gave you multiple chances, yet you didn’t take them. You repaid my generosity with silence. As you cry, I want you to know this could’ve been avoided. You chose this. You wanted this. This is all because of you.”</p><p>Thankfully, I don’t have to relive it. However, I do have to live with the consequences. I’m laying down on a bed. A hospital bed to be exact. My head is fuzzy and vision is blurry, but I’m still able to figure out what’s happening around me. Saamuki is sitting right next to me with her fingers flipping through a holographic magazine. As for Mikrovos, he is nowhere in sight. She, because the magazine is, of course, see-through, notices the growing worry on my face. As much as my thoughts are scattered, jumping to scenarios worse than the last, her soft voice manages to soothe me, “He’s fine. He’s in a stasis tube down the hall.”</p><p>I force myself up. It’s painful, but I push myself through it. “I-I have to-”</p><p>“What do you think you’re doing? Your wounds just closed.” She tries pushing me back down, but I push her away. </p><p>Before I’m able to reach the doorway she grabs my hand. I turn to her. I see myself as her. I see my hand grabbing my wife’s. Saamuki notices the look in my eyes, which gets her to let go. </p><p>“At least let me help you.” Her lips moved, but I heard my voice instead of hers. I shook my head, removing the image of myself from her, and let her put my arm around her shoulder. She grabs hold of the side of my once broken rib. We then exited the room and walked into a long, dark hallway. Our steps bounced from wall to wall, fighting against the sounds of beeping monitors. </p><p>My hand touched the glass. My reflection lays on top of his floating body, which is submerged in a bluish-green liquid. His chest moves up and down. His eyes are shut. I softly smile at how relaxed he looks, but with my eyes moving down to the scars on his chest it turns into a frown. “I’m sorry. I wish I could’ve done something. I wish I didn’t have to be so helpless.” </p><p>Bubbles blazed around his oxygen mask. His monitor’s ringing blasted in my ears, as his hands pushed against the glass. I don’t hesitate to help him open it. He along with the liquid inside splash onto me. I catch him, but he’s way too heavy for me to lift. So, Saamuki helps me help him stand up. A doctor and several nurses rushed inside, but he brushed them off. </p><p>It was quiet. It was awkward. My thoughts raced. I tried saying them out loud, but Mikrovos was faster. “What did I tell you about moping?”</p><p>“Not to, but-”</p><p>“Then, why were you doing it a minute ago?”</p><p>“You got hurt. You could’ve been killed.”</p><p>“So, what? You couldn’t have done anything. Speaking of which, going outside like that and thinking you can fight The Commander weaponless was beyond stupid. You could’ve been killed. Did you want their deaths to be for nothing? How about your wife’s condition? Did you want her to keep waiting for someone that wouldn’t show up?”</p><p>Saamuki breaks us apart. She stands between us with her finger jabbing his chest. “And what do you think scolding her will accomplish? She already feels bad as it is.”</p><p>“No, he’s right. I often dive headfirst without thinking. It’s because of me,” I begin to cry, “It’s because of me she’s dying. If I hadn’t gone on that mission alone I wouldn’t have given her that disease. She’d still be okay. She’d still be happy. For days I watched her suffer. I was helpless. I couldn’t do anything about it until I found out about the crystals in Quadrant 70. I just don’t want to be helpless. I don’t want to see anyone else suffer.”</p><p>To both Saamuki’s and my surprise, he wraps his arms around me. Clutching his back, I then cry into his chest.</p><p>“I understand how you feel. I don’t want to see anyone else suffer either. I don’t want anyone else to ever feel it as well.”</p><p>We’re sitting on top of the ship and are watching the sunset. It lowers into the clear, blue ocean before us. This causes the reddish sky to fade into blackness and be sprinkled with soft hints of blues and purples. Splotches of white are sprinkled all over the sky as well. They twinkle and one even flies overhead. It’s all reflected in the calm waters. </p><p>“But we all feel the same things. You can’t just save people from suffering. They’ll feel it eventually.”</p><p>“I know, and I hate that.”</p><p>“But is that why you stayed?”</p><p>“I hadn’t even spoken to you then, but I saw it in your eyes. I saw how impulsive you are,” I smirk and roll my eyes, “I’d feel too guilty to let you wander off to who knows where by yourself.”</p><p>As insulted as I was, I turned to him and smiled. “Thank you, Mikrovos.”</p><p>For just a second he blanked. He perked up his ears, pointing them towards the night sky. When he finally regains himself, he responds with, “You’re welcome.”</p><p>“You have a package,” the ship’s computer notified Saamuki. </p><p>“It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten packages from clients. It better not be some used underwear again. Bring it up.” </p><p>My friend and I look at one another because replacing the AI’s head is the piece of Mikrovos’s horn he had given her sister. She grabs it and turns to him. “Is this yours?”</p><p>“It’s a gift from your sister, Captain Saamuki,” the AI clarified. </p><p>“My sister…” Still, and rightfully so, the pain still claimed her heart. She still suffered over her death as she wanted to cry, but she stops it with a playful attitude. “It comes now. This could’ve come in handy when I was paying for your guys’ hospital bills.”</p><p>I felt the tension between us. He’s sitting on the windowsill and is staring out, watching the planets fly past us. I highly doubt he can’t see my reflection in the glass, but he refuses to acknowledge me. Before I can say anything the ship arrives before Earth.</p><p>“Your planet is beautiful,” he muttered. His words are stern, yet I can feel envy in them. </p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>The ship lands right in front of the hospital, which gets the attention of everyone around it. Some take pictures from where they’re standing. Others run towards it. The rest take a glance at it and then continue to what they were doing previously. With the stairs lowering, I can’t help but turn back to look at him. </p><p>“Mi-”</p><p>“You’re not in outer space anymore.” I’m about to cry, but he reminds me, “She’s waiting for you.” </p><p>I smile at him. He smiles at me back. I then turn around and step out of the ship, but as soon as I do officers surround me. This gets Mikrovos to run out. Because of this, they point their guns at me. As he is forced to freeze, they make room for my boss. She steps out of a well-tinted van. Her heels click towards me, and once she’s in front of me I see my frustration reflected in her shades. </p><p>“I don’t have time for this. Please, Director. Please, let me through.”</p><p>She takes off her shades. My eyes meet with her cold glare. “It’s amazing you made it out of orbit without getting shot down. Where is your crew? Where is your commander?”</p><p>“They’re…”</p><p>Her eyes take note of the crystal wrapped tightly around my arms. “That’s from Quadrant 70. How on earth were you able to make it that far?”</p><p>“Director, I’ll explain everything you want to know, but please let me through. My wife is in there. She’s suffering. This is the only thing that can save her. I’ll do anything, but just please let me give her this,” I cried out. </p><p>We didn’t say anything to each other. We looked into each other’s eyes. It felt like forever, but with her raising her hand I felt a part of my anxiety disappear. They lower their weapons, but they soon shift them towards Mikrovos.</p><p>“An hour. That’s all I’m giving you, but as soon as you walk out those doors you will not only be relinquished of your job but you will be tried for your acts of treason as well.”</p><p>“Thank you, Director.”</p><p>Again, I turn to him. He gives me a simple nod. I then dash towards the hospital and make sure I don’t slip on any of the puddles around it. I pushed away anyone that was in my way, and as soon as the elevator hit the first floor I squeezed myself past the people who wanted to exit. They give me an angered look, especially the parents who I had accidentally caused their kid to drop their ice cream, but I didn’t care. </p><p>I turned and continued running. I knew where to go. I’ve been here way too many times before. Once my hand touches the door I don’t hesitate to swing it open. I don’t stop to catch my breath until I’m at her bedside. She woke up by my panting, “You’re already back, honey? It’s barely been half an hour.”</p><p>She’s pale, too skinny, and has too many needles and tubes puncturing into her skin. The sight gets my heart to drop, but it’s not like it hasn’t before. The only difference is she looks worse. I think about how if I had waited another minute. I think about how if I had died against Mikrovos’s old commander it wouldn’t have been too long before she joined with me. That got my eyebrow to twitch.</p>

<p>Ignoring her, I place the crystal above her head. It floats, glows, and spins. She looks at me. So many questions circled her head, but I don’t bother to answer any of them, at least not yet. My time is limited. My time is short with her. With the crystal now gone, the fruit drops into her lap. </p><p>“Eat it. Please, Ashley.” She doesn’t hesitate. Her fingers wrap around the fruit. She raises it to her lips, and she bites into it. I watch her chew and swallow it down. Turning to me, I see her skin revert to its natural color. </p><p>“Where did you get that because that was the sourest thing I’ve ever-” I wrap my arms tightly around her. I hug her and cry into her shoulder. She hugs me back, but she’s as confused as ever. </p><p>We both step out of the hospital hand in hand. The Director and an officer step towards us, which has my wife’s hands turn my head so that our eyes could meet. She leans in and we kiss. It’s sweet, but it’s one that brings us both to tears. I savored every second, yet I kept pushing her away. We couldn’t do it forever. She knew this as well, but she kept going. It hurt me as much as it did with her. The officer next to my boss pulled me away from her and handcuffed me. My wife pleaded with my boss to let me go, but I know her. The Director’s mind is already set. Besides, it’s not like she wanted this. I saw it in her eyes. She was just following orders. As I am escorted towards the van my boss came in, I see Mikrovos try to stop this. Saamuki stops him before he could. The last thing I see before the van’s door closes is their heartbroken faces. I smile at them, hoping to relieve their suffering. </p><p>The helmet is removed from me. I’m in a dimly lit room. A single ray of light shines onto me. They whisper and after some time the judge slams his gavel down. With that, the light above turns off. I’m then sent into complete darkness.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>After returning to Earth, an unnamed Space Explorer must face the consequences of going past Quadrant 5.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Chapters 6-10 are part 2</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I sigh. I watch my breath move away and disappear before my eyes. I shiver, but instead of hugging myself to keep in what little warmth I have, I look down at my shaky hands. I imagine my blood dripping down my fingertips. I then lay them down, hoping to paint the cold floor beneath me. I know full well it’s all in my head, but I try to anyway. I try until I can feel the skin underneath my nails tear. When that happens, I grip either shoulder. This isn’t because I now know it’s best to keep warm. I did so because of how trapped and lonely I feel.</p><p>
My eyes move up towards the wall I’m leaning against. I imagine a window and the rich blue sky waiting on the other side. I then go on to imagine how long I’ve spent here. By this point, I could’ve already stayed here for days, weeks, or even months. Time has lost its touch on me. The walls haven’t changed. No cobwebs or even a speck of dust has touched them. Even the door right across from me doesn’t have a sliver of time’s touch. Its knob hasn’t moved an inch since I got here. Even the air vent above lacks any indication of how long I’ve been here. There’s no sound coming from them, especially no voices. It strengthens the lack of hope, though. It causes my head to lower.</p><p>
Because of this, I scoff. I scoffed at how lucky I was back then. At least back at the Tauvoxes’ ship, I felt alive. Even if it was fear it’s better than feeling dead.</p><p>
Light touched me. It blinded me. I tried covering my eyes with my hand, but with his hand wrapping itself and clutching my wrist it became impossible.</p><p>
He led me. I walked by his side and took note of the many doors that stretched from both ends of the hallway. They’re all closed, which meant many others are facing the same torment I had just been released from. I imagine the hundred or so helpless others sitting at the very edges of their rooms with their heads down. Most hug themselves to keep warm or what little hope they had left. Some just lean against the wall, hoping for death to take them away from the mind-numbing torture. Sure, maybe some deserved to be here. Maybe they broke out of the limits of humanity, but no one deserved this. No one deserved the drain. Whatever they had done to get themselves here it couldn’t have been enough to forget they’re human too. They have families. They have friends. Maybe a pet at home like a dog. Maybe that dog used to wait at their front door until they got home from work. Maybe that dog now has their head down and is whimpering because they were promised a walk too long ago. Whatever the case they have memories. They have lives, or at least they had lives before being sent here. True monsters could be on the other side of those doors, but it’s not like they wanted to be one. Life just forces people to become one. I might not be called a monster to most, but it doesn’t matter what most think because in their eyes they see me as one. In his eyes especially.</p><p>
He sat right across from me and just like with The Director shades covered his eyes. They showed me the helplessness sketched on my face. “It doesn’t take much to realize you aren’t handcuffed. You can try to run out of here. Hell, you can try to sock my nose. However, if you’re smart you wouldn’t do something so rash. We attached a chip on the back of your neck not too long after your court case. So, if you try to do anything other than answer me you will be electrocuted.”</p><p>
“Does it matter? Whether or not I answer I’ll just be sent back into that room to be left to myself. To be tortured”</p><p>
“Rightfully so. You had disobeyed direct orders, caused the death of your entire crew, and nearly brought all of humanity into another war. Thank God for that band of Space Pirates…”</p><p>
His words faded from my hearing. Instead of sitting in the interrogation room, I’ve bent down in the middle of a farmers market. Underneath a small rock, a flower sways before my eyes. My hand pushes the rock away, grabs the flower, and plucks it out of the ground. I then ran over to my mother. Well, it was more like scrambling to her as I tried not to trip because at that time my shoes were somehow always untied. Once I’m next to her, I tug her baggy pants. When that doesn’t get her attention, I call out her name. Still, her attention is directed towards the woman running the little shop. They’re laughing as the owner places my mother’s purchased fruits and vegetables into a bag. Because I was just another selfish child, I kicked my mother. This gets her attention, but not the type I wanted. She turns and lowers her head as the owner is talking to another customer. My mother mouths, “When we get home-”</p><p>
“Here’s your bag,” the owner interrupted her with a soft voice.</p><p>
With that, my mother’s demeanor shifted right back into its lighthearted self. She smiles and says her thanks, but that’s the end of that side of her. Once we get home she scolds me. With the flower crushed in my hand, I can feel my throat tighten. I’m crying in front of her as she points her finger and shouts at me. She could’ve scolded me for at least another hour, but a phone call cuts her off mid-sentence.</p><p>
I threw the flower down and continued to cry into my pillow. I don’t know how long I cried. Maybe a few seconds. It could’ve been five minutes. An hour possibly, or maybe even two. How long it was doesn’t matter. I calmed down eventually. Well, the crying portion of my emotions ended. From being a tearful mess I then turned to frustration. “You’re always making me cry. I wish something made you cry for once, mom,” I shouted.</p><p>
It wouldn’t take long for me to regret that statement because what had come next was an explosion. My childhood home was swallowed up in a blaze of fire. I tried looking for my mom, but I was too late. A piece of the roof punctured right through her, but she was still alive. Her body twitched and I saw tears in her eyes. I wanted to help her. I tried to, but I was too weak. So, I ran. I pushed past some crops and ran until I slipped and fell in some mud.</p><p>
As I tried wiping off the mud from my face, I cried. I cried until I saw something appearing in the mud, it reflected something. It reflected something unworldly. Looking up, I see a spaceship.</p><p>
The trudging soon began. My shoes were covered in mud, grass, and sewage. They smelled and were on the verge of breaking.apart. I’ve worn the same clothes for days. We’ve been trudging for days. Blisters sat underneath my feet. Scars scattered throughout my ankles and some even managed to get to my shoulders and chest. The others and I haven’t eaten much. Our rations ended a week ago, so we’ve been surviving on whatever we’re able to find whether that means killing a fox or going dumpster diving.</p><p>
It was supposed to end about a month ago, but the hideout was found out. The people that made it there first were either killed by the blast or, if they managed to escape before it hit, became their prisoners.</p><p>
“Go west? Are you insane,” our group leader questioned.</p><p>
She stood in front of him. She’s about my age, two years older. Her name is Ashley. I, of course, didn’t know it at the time, but she would become the one I risked everything for about two decades later. “Can’t you see they already know we’re heading south?”</p><p>
We’re all young. Most of the group barely hit puberty. He was the oldest, so it was only natural for us to make him the leader. However, other than me he was the most stubborn. “Even if they do, what other choice do we have? Five hideouts have been discovered in the past month. If we go back west we’ll be shot down as soon as we step foot there, or worse we’ll become their prisoners. Let’s say you’re right. At least south we have some cover.”</p><p>
“They’ve been hitting in one unit. There’s no way they’d split up in two separate directions.”</p><p>
“And you know this how?</p><p>
“I’ve been watching them from afar. I haven’t seen any of them-”</p><p>
“Wait. You’ve been splitting up from the group,” he yelled.</p><p>
“Yes,” she muttered under her breath.</p><p>
He steps closer to her and lifts her by her collar. Because of the huge height difference, her feet are seen dangling. She begins to cry. The others either just watch or look away. “You’ve been sneaking off from the group? For how long?”</p><p>
Her crying causes my heart to drop and fists to shake. I wanted to do something, but I was just too scared. He was older, taller, and way stronger.</p><p>
“I-I don’t know...a few weeks?” The last word in her answer is spoken with a squeak.<br/>
“You could’ve been caught for these past few weeks,” his grip tightens on her collar, “You could’ve given away our location these past few weeks.”</p><p>
“I’m sorry,” she whimpered.</p><p>
Seeing him move his hand into his pocket, I already knew what he was planning to do. So, I didn’t waste any more time. I buried down my fear towards him and instead replaced it with the fear of that knife making it into her chest.</p><p>
“Stop.” It was my turn to get in front of him. I looked at him with begging eyes, but he ignored me. He pulled the blade back and swung.</p><p>
He cried out and let her go. I caught her before she hit the ground. As she and along with the rest of the group tried to process what just happened, I grabbed her hand and led her away from there. The last thing I see of them is them trying to help him pull the branch out of his ankle.</p><p>
For months we all struggled. For months it was all about survival. It was about becoming a hunter rather than the hunted. It felt like years, but the years I’ve spent with her felt like hours. She made me happy the first time in a while. It’s the type of genuine happiness that causes your cheeks to cramp from all the laughing. I hadn’t felt that happy since before my father’s death. She was my first in just about everything. She was my lover. We’ve been together for basically my whole life. Until everything crumbled down. It crumbled because of me.</p><p>
“And you did it all for her,” he broke me out of my memories.</p><p>
“Yes,” I said confidently.</p><p>
“One life isn’t worth the lives of millions.”</p><p>
My eyebrows furrowed. One twitched. The space between them scrunched up. “What are you trying to say?”</p><p>
“What do you think I’m trying to say?”</p><p>
“You think I would let her die? You think I would just sit back on my ass and let my wife die?”</p><p>
“You were the one that caused her predicament. It’s only deserved you-”</p><p>
Before he can finish I punch his nose. He stumbles out of his chair and clutches his now crooked nose. Blood dripped out of the site, but I didn’t get to savor his pain for long because the consequences he described earlier began. An electric shock hit me. It went up and down my spine, causing me to stumble out of my chair as well.</p><p>
Knees bent and shaking, I cry. I cry for it to stop. It does, but I still feel it. It’s over, but I still feel my spine burning and head pounding. So, I fall to the floor and try to dig my nails in it. I watch my tears splash onto it as well.</p><p>
He moves in front of me. He bends down so that my eyes can meet with his shades. “Was it worth it?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Do you really think I’d change my answer just because of that?” I panted the words out. Sweat dripped off of me as I struggled to spout out each word. My body shook. It was just one electric shock. At this rate, it might be the first of many. Thinking of that makes me nauseous, but I can’t just let his insults go without any consequences.</p>
<p>
“I wouldn’t think so. You got into the program after all, but I find it best not to assume even if you were part of the toughest in The Confederation.”</p>
<p>
“Do whatever you want to me. I’ll never regret any of it.”</p>
<p>
He pauses. Silence breaks out. Then, “Sit back down at the table.” I look at him hesitantly, suspiciously. “When I served my time in the field, I was in your place. I at least want to do better than the man who tortured me for months.”</p>
<p>
My interrogator gets up and sits back down. I do the same, but I don’t do it because he asked. I did it because it would only be a matter of time before I couldn’t hold myself up any longer.</p>
<p>
“As you were applying for the program, all of the higher-ups wanted to dismiss your application. You failed much of the intellectual tests and you barely passed the physical ones. If I hadn’t done my research properly, I would’ve thought you were just insanely lucky. The Director was insistent to get you in. Imagine her disappointment when she found out about what you did.”</p>
<p>
“Why are you bringing this up,” I demanded.</p>
<p>
“Other than trying to break your last remaining bits of pride,” he shrugged, “Well, it’s quite clear you have many faults, faults that made you the black sheep in the program. However, there’s a reason why The Director has her position. Your resilience is the toughest we’ve seen in some time. You’re even tougher than your late commander.”</p>
<p>
“And that matters because?”</p>
<p>
“Every word you spoke and every action you made here has been duly noted. This was the final test.”</p>
<p>
I got up from my chair and slammed my hands onto the table. “Final test for what,” I asked frantically. As my franticness rose, he stayed calm throughout it, but for a split second, I saw a corner of his lip lower. He partially frowned.</p>
<p>
The door opened and in came two guards. They grabbed either arm. “Much of your memories will be erased,” he explained.</p>
<p>
“What?” Even though the two men on either side of me are not only taller but way stronger as well, I still tried fighting free. All it gets me is another electric shock, which causes me to collapse in their grasp.</p>
<p>
“Do whatever you want to me,” he repeated my words. Although, they’re not of mockery. They’re of sorrow.</p><p>
As I am being pulled out of the room, he remains sitting down. He lowers his head. His attention is towards his folded hands, which are resting on the table. My screaming and crying do cause him to flinch, though.</p>
<p>
Lifting my head, I imagine the ceiling to be the night sky and the lights as its stars. I bite my lip and feel my eyes swell up from all the crying as they blur past me. After everything, I’m going to forget it all again. This time it’s for good.</p>
<p>
Several shocks hit me as they tried to force me onto a long, metal table because even though the two shocks earlier still affected me I just couldn’t let them do it. I just couldn’t let them erase my memories. I don’t want to forget ever again, but it doesn’t matter what I want. I can’t do anything about it no matter how much I fight.</p>
<p>
My limbs are locked in place. Even my mouth is shut. A woman in a lab coat enters the room. She asks for the guards to leave and they do so without a word. It’s just me and her now, but the room feels small. She made looking at the white walls feel wrong. It makes me sick. It feels like I’m not supposed to be looking at them, but it’s not like I’m able to look anywhere else. She didn’t say a word to me yet, but I already dislike her. Sure, she’s the one that’s going to take away my memories, but even if she wasn’t I still wouldn’t like her. She just has a very punchable face.</p>
<p>
“I’ve heard and read much about you. It’s good to finally meet you.” Her voice is soft, but it felt off.</p>
<p>
She stepped behind me and I felt her cold fingers go down my neck, causing me to shiver. “Forgive me. I am Doctor Emma Verr, Dr. Verr.”</p>
<p>
Knowing her name is most definitely not a worry of mine. Her touching me like that does cause me to worry. It felt dirty. It felt like I was cheating on my wife. She didn’t do much, but I felt something more with the action. I felt an awful intention behind it, besides getting to my chip.</p>
<p>
“Don’t worry you won’t be here for long.” Dr. Verr inserts something into my chip.</p>
<p>
As useless as it was, I tried fighting free again. The outcome is of course not any different from earlier.</p>
<p>
I hear my heart race. I clutch my hands. Screams come out of me, but they’re muffled.</p>
<p>
I stood in the middle of them as they all flew past me, flying towards their deaths. I saw myself age. I saw myself laugh, smile, cry, and shout. I saw my father once again. He carried me on his back as my mother watched from the sidelines. She rolled her eyes, but it wasn’t out of malice. It was fondness. It was of fondness over how we were a picture-perfect family, but as quickly as that happened I stood in front of his grave. I cried in front of it, but my mother was unfazed. A cigarette burned between her fingers. That was the first and only time she smoked. Our broken relationship had begun and just like with the others her shouts just flew passed me. I relived her brutal demise and me stabbing my group leader. I then felt her lips colliding with mine. They were soft and sweet like the one at our marriage. Ashley throws the bouquet and once it lands on the floor I’m thrown into the Tauvoxes’ ship. Before Mikrovos’ old commander can touch me I am forced to wake up.</p><p>
Mikrovos has me in his arms. People shoot at us, which Mikrovos uses his back to shield me from. He grunts through the pain. I can only watch it. I can’t move my lips. I can’t even tell him how glad I am to see him again, but most importantly scold him for using himself to protect me.</p>
<p>
My friend presses his hand against his ear, the very one underneath his broken horn. “Is the exit clear,” he asked into the small earphone.</p>
<p>
The response back was not only filled with static but carried a familiar voice with it as well. “Hurry up and get to-” A gun fired. It cuts her off.</p>
<p>
He tried to get her to come back, “Hello. Hey. Are you still there?”</p>
<p>
Another familiar voice is heard. Unlike with the one that came out of his headphone this one is attached to a visible face. She has dyed hair. It’s red. She’s really pretty. She’s young. She’s about my age. “Mikrovos, let’s go,” she ordered.</p>
<p>
Turned around, he follows her out of the room. He looks around the hallway and takes note of the several bodies covered in blood on the floor. “That was...fast.”</p>
<p>
“Yeah,” she looks past him, “And I’ll make this a whole lot faster.” She shoots Dr. Verr before any of us could blink. Her blood splashed around the beam of light. I watch her and her gun fall to the ground.</p>
<p>
“I just talked to her a minute ago. She was cut off before she could finish.”</p>
<p>
“Then, they have to be waiting for us there, but we have no other choice. We have to head to the south gate.”</p>
<p>
Marching is heard heading our way. None of us and especially not me don’t have the time to process anything before a handful of guards come and start shooting at us. Mikrovos, thankfully, acts quicker than their guns. He has her in his arms as well and runs out of there before they can hit any of us. They try running after him, but he’s way faster than any of them.</p>
<p>
At every turn there were guards. We couldn’t use the elevator. We definitely couldn’t use the stairs. We were trapped in the janitor’s closet. We sat between its door and window. Mikrovos carefully looked out the window. As for the girl, she’s trying to get me to speak. I try to move my lips, but my body is still too drained to say a single word. So, all I can do is listen to her be thankful they finally found me.</p>
<p>
“Eight stories,” he muttered under his breath.</p>
<p>
She turned to him, “You’re not planning to do what I think you’re doing?”</p>
<p>
“Do we have a better option?”</p>
<p>
“You’re not going to survive that fall especially with the two of us.”</p>
<p>
“We don’t have-”</p>
<p>
They quiet down with the sound of boots stomping across the floor from the other side of the door. When the sound dies down the red-haired girl tries to change his mind, “We can think of another way.”</p>
<p>
“They already took her,” he whispered. She looks at him, wondering how he’s able to state what he did so confidently. Took who I’m not exactly sure, but it has to be whoever was talking to my friend through his earphone. “We got this far. We’ve waited this long. We can’t wait any longer.”</p>
<p>
“Check every room. They have to be somewhere on this floor,” a man shouted somewhere on the other side of the door.</p>
<p>
All of us turned to the voice. As soon as Mikrovos turns away, he grabs both of us and jumps out the window. She screams as the wind blows our hair and his fur upwards. His back is then slammed onto the ground. As I try to force myself up with my aching body and the ringing in my ears, she’s crying and trying to wake him up, and just like she said earlier they’ve been waiting for us. A hundred or so guards circled us with their guns pointed directly at us.</p>
<p>
A man, who I assume to be their commander, pushes past them. He stands several feet away from us, standing in front of the gate. His shades reflected the rich blue sky and bright, golden sun. “Hand her over peacefully, or be the ones that get her killed.” He snapped his fingers. A familiar woman is pushed beside him. She has shades as well and bloodstains all over her legs.</p>
<p>
Squinting my eyes. I see that her knee has been shot. The man then points a gun directly at her head. “Please, don’t make The Confederacy have to look for another Director,” he continued.</p>
<p>
Turning my head back, I see his eyes are still closed. My heart dropped. I cry. My tears fall onto his chest. I manage to mutter out his name’s first syllable. Then, to our relief, he coughs up blood and opens his eyes.</p>
<p>
Glass pierced through his back. Blood dripped down from the cuts they made. He’s slouching. He’s limping. Mikrovos is about to fall, but both of us catch him before he can. “Thanks,” he stammered out.</p>
<p>
“As I was saying, hand her back to us before you make us do something we won’t be able to take back.”</p>
<p>
“She knew beforehand what could-”</p>
<p>
The man didn’t waste any more time. He shot her. He killed her instantly. When her head hit the floor, her shades came off. Seeing her eyes, I shout, “No!”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You bastard,” I continued. My fists shook and my eyes watered. I was about to do something stupid. I was about to repeat the same mistake I’ve made too many times before, but what stops me from doing it is Mikrovos’ hand being placed above my chest.</p><p>
“This isn’t the time to mope. She’s gone,” Mikrovos bluntly forced me to come to terms with.</p><p>
I didn’t know her but seeing someone die just like that sickened me, especially when she helped them finally get to me. She knew the man that killed her. She must’ve as she was on their side at one point, but he killed her. He just killed her like it didn’t matter. Like she never mattered.</p><p>
“A few more minutes,” the red-haired girl whispered to us.</p><p>
Because some of her blood had gotten on him, he flicked his hand and wiped his shoes onto the dirt. This causes me to become even more pissed, but I buried it. I trusted the two near me. I trusted what they were waiting for. I needed to.</p><p>
“If you simply wanted to play it the hard way then you should’ve just asked.” The guards’ commander moves his hand into his pocket. He takes out what appeared to be a small rod. Then, with a press of its button, a whip made out of electricity comes bursting out of it. He cracks it onto the ground. “Who wants to die next?”</p><p>
Mikrovos tries to step forward. He wants to take the lead as usual. He wants to shield us from the pain that lies ahead, but as much as he wanted to his body spoke otherwise. My friend fell to his knees. As he tries to force himself back up, he grunts.</p><p>
“Mikrovos, stay down,” she ordered. She pointed her gun at the guard’s commander and stared dead into his eyes.</p><p>
He turns to her. “You won’t survive if that thing hits you.”</p><p>
“That’s why I’m not going to let it, but besides it’s not like we have any other choice.”</p><p>
With my friend shutting up, she lets him go. I’m left to sit next to him with his right arm around my shoulders.</p><p>
Her stepping forward, the commander raises his hand. The guards around us lower their weapons and step back. “Ah, so you’re the next one that’s going to fall by my hands.”</p><p>
“Probably not,” she shrugs, “The man in front of me is going to fall by my hands, though.”</p><p>
“Cocky, I like that. Hopefully, you can survive longer than the man I last used this on.”</p><p>
She makes the first move. She shoots. The blast flies towards the space between his eyes, but it’s deflected with his whip. It lands in a nearby bush, which causes it to be set ablaze.</p><p>
A smirk makes its appearance on their commander. Then, he flings his whip. It’s too fast. Too fast for her to completely dodge. She lands away from it, but not unscathed. Her shoulder bleeds, causing my friend to try to once again stand on his own, but as much as I want to help as well I know I’m not in a position to. I’d just get in her way. We both would, so I place my hand in front of his chest. I met with his eyes because of it. Neither of us needed to say anything as he set himself back down.</p><p>
Her hand pressed on the wound in the hopes of stopping the blood. She gulps as her dominant hand shook. Her blood dripped down from it. He wounded the hand she’s been using to shoot, her dominant hand. As she bites down her cries, he laughs, “You won’t be able to accurately shoot your next shoot, but it’s not like things would’ve been any much different if I got your other arm. You won’t ever be able to shoot me.”</p><p>
“If you think I’ll go down that easily you’re mistaken.”</p><p>
“Funny, I heard something similar earlier. Maybe you’ll fall to your knees just like her.”</p><p>
Thwip.</p><p>
This time she’s able to dodge, but she’s unable to shoot anywhere close to him. As panicked as we all became, especially her, she still didn’t yield. She kept dodging and shooting even if she’s off by quite a distance. With every passing second, I saw her grow more and more tired. I saw her grow more and more hopeless. That is until she cracks a smile.</p><p>
Their commander and I question why her attitude has suddenly changed. Unlike him, I’m able to figure out why. His shades reflect a familiar spaceship. Once its shadow stretches across the courtyard everyone lifts their heads. “What are you idiots doing? Shoot it down!”</p><p>
They all scramble to get out their guns and shoot at it. Their lasers just bounce off of it and once the ship lands Saamuki opens the door. “Get in.”</p><p>
As I help Mikrovos inside, they turn their attention to us. They shoot at us. Saamuki, thankfully, isn’t weaponless. She shoots back, killing some of them, which causes the rest to seek cover. Once we’re inside she asks for some girl named “Ashley”.</p><p>
I don’t know who she’s talking about, so I stared at her with a blank face, but she gets her answer from one of the ship’s windows. So, even though the ship’s computer advised her to stay inside, she ran outside. After sitting him down, I watch Saamuki and who I assume to be the Ashley girl battling it out against the guard’s commander. It was two against one. Well, it was one and a half against one, but still, he was outnumbered, yet he somehow still held the upper hand. The two dodged every swing, but they weren't able to shoot him. He’s just too fast.</p><p>
Saamuki grew anxious. I saw her gulp. She knows Ashley doesn’t have the time for this, especially Mikrovos. So, this time when he swung his whip at them, she grabbed it. It caused her to scream. He then tried pulling his whip out of her hands as they blackened. As he is, Ashley took the shot. She doesn’t kill him, but she is at least able to get a chunk of his neck torn off. The two then hurried back, dodging the shots from the guards in the process.</p><p>
The door closes, Saamuki orders for the ship to fly us out of there. It does, but we don’t leave so easily. From left and right we get shot at by The Confederate’s ships. This caused the ship to tip from left to right and for us, to, of course, lose our footing. We slip and fall on our backs. Saamuki crawls towards the AI. She bites her lip, holding back the pain, as her hands touch the cold floor. Once she gets there she has the AI give her manual control. It does and she takes a seat where the AI was. Then, before her, a holographic screen appears. She places her hands on it and flies the ship. We’re able to lose them, but we soon lose our altitude.</p><p>
Its nose points towards a field as it descends. The ship’s lights blink red and alarms go off as it does. They scream. I’m not able to make out which scream is who’s, though. Then, before we know it, we crash. I blackout.</p><p>
Stars twinkle up in the night sky. Although, there aren’t as many compared to what I saw outside this quadrant. The sight isn’t as colorful as well. The sky is just plain black. Even though the sight in the corner of my eye is dreary, as their faces held frowns, it’s at least colorful. The bonfire's orange glow reflected onto them and the crops around us. It looked like a Renaissance painting.</p><p>
“She didn’t know, Ashley.” Saamuki’s voice was somber. Her eyes didn’t face Ashley and they didn’t even look down at her hands as she poured water onto them. I watched her grunt as she watched the fire eat the wood beneath it.</p><p>
“You’re lying. You have to be.” My focus turns to Ashley who’s plucking out the shards of glass deep inside Mikrovos’ back. I also note how a piece of her shirt is now wrapped around her wound.</p><p>
Speaking of him, “I don’t want it to be true too, but you were there at the meeting. You heard what she said.” Between his words, he grunted as after every word the glass was removed.</p><p>
I get up. It hurt, but I forced myself to. This gets them to realize I’ve woken up. “What are you guys talking about?”</p><p>
Ashley turned away from me. She focuses on removing the rest of the glass instead of on me. As for the other two, they look at me then look at each other. It was awkward and it was especially quiet. Thankfully, Mikrovos asks, “Did they get to erase your memories?”</p><p>
I grip either shoulder, ending the conversation abruptly. I also look away from them. Silence masks the scene once again.</p><p>
“Do you remember this place,” Ashley had finally broken out.</p><p>
“Should I?”</p><p>
“It’s not the same place, but it’s similar. You had a home in a place like this.”</p><p>
I move my hands to the cold dirt beneath me. I feel it. I move the dirt around, I try to remember, but all I see is just plain old dirt. Nothing more. Nothing less.</p><p>
“Then, it’s true. We’re too late,” she continued. She then began to quietly cry.</p><p>
Mikrovos turns to her with his newly freed back, freed from the glass, and rests his hand onto her shoulder. “Not exactly. We’re not entirely. She knew my name.”</p><p>
As Ashley wipes away her tears, Saamuki steps in, “Then, what do you still remember?”</p><p>
“I remember you and Mikrovos. I remember that whole journey we went on.”</p><p>
“Then, do you remember why we went on it,” Mikrovos asked.</p><p>
I shook my head. I remember just about everything about it. I remember how Mikrovos saved my life. Well, he’s saved it a bunch of times. I remember how protective he was and how his ears went up when I thanked him. I remember how much his eyes pleased for me to get Saamuki off of him. I especially remember him almost dying. I see him running. I see the crystal in his hands and how he struggled to keep it there as his old commander pummeled him, but I can’t remember why. I can’t remember why we risked our lives.</p><p>
“It was for her.” Mikrovos moved away from Ashley just enough for me to note who he was talking about.</p><p>
I trust Mikrovos. I trust his words. I can tell myself that he’s right, but I’ll never remember. I’ll never truly remember why I did all those things for her. While they see her as their friend all I can see her as is a stranger.</p><p>
“I’m sorry. I just don’t remember. I believe you, but…”</p><p>
We all lower our heads in defeat. That is until Saamuki lifts her head and points a finger up. “Wait. Didn’t you tell me this happened before? When my sister-”</p><p>
“That’s different. What happened to her then was a head bump. She had only forgotten them This is them being erased,” Ashley cleared up.</p><p>
“I’m sorry,” I repeated.</p><p>
“It’s not your fault,” Ashley responded.</p><p>
“Well, if you knew ahead of time I’d get my memories erased do you guys at least know why?”</p><p>
Again, silence had broken between us. I saw Mikrovos gulping before answering with, “As you already know, humans are not allowed past Quadrant 5. So, it means a huge profit to anyone if they saw a human. The Space Pirate Tauvoxes asked your government for payment, so that word of your appearance would not spread. Unfortunately, your government doesn’t have enough of what they’re asking. So, they offered you as payment.”</p><p>
“What? Then, why even erase my memories?”</p><p>
“Because of what happened last time you were on their ship, they wanted a blank slate, especially for what they had in store.” The look in his eyes leads me to figure out what he meant. I try to not gag. “While we didn’t want any of your memories to be erased, we're at least thankful that we found you before they came here.”</p><p>
“When are they arriving on Earth?”</p><p>
“A whole Earth day from when we escaped.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Turning to the fire, I imagine that brutish commander passing through it with something bloody in his hand. He steps towards me. I want to run away. I really want to, but they held me down. His men have my wrists and ankles gripped in their hands. I tried fighting free. All it does is have them spread my limbs further away from each other. Once he’s all too close to me he lifts what he’s been holding. Mikrovos’ decapitated head swung towards me. His blood splatters onto me. Because of this, I cry. The Commander had his hand caress my cheek and thumb to wipe away my tears, but my suffering had only just begun. He then forces my head to turn towards other familiar faces like Ashley and Saamuki. The monster wants me to watch them begin what Mikrovos had just gone through. I shut my eyes before it starts, only allowing my ears to listen. I hear them scream until someone calls for me.</p><p>
“Hey. Are you all right? What’s wrong?” In her blue eyes, I see how pale I’ve become. I see myself crying. While I no longer knew her, they at least did. So, I wrap my arms around her. I hug her tightly as I cry into her shoulder as the other two watches from afar.</p><p>
Her hand rubbed my back as I watched the fire eat away the wood beneath it. My foot rolls a pebble from side to side. I now sat near them. I joined their dreariness. “Is the ship going to be ready by then,” I broke my silence.</p><p>
“Mikrovos found a whole junkyard filled with abandoned vehicles before sunset. If we get to them as soon as the sun rises I’ll be able to fix the ship long before they come,” Saamuki explained.</p><p>
“What’s,” I gulp, “What’s going to happen when they find out I’m not here? What’s going to happen to Earth?” I lift my head and look into Saamuki’s eyes.</p><p>
Saamuki looks away. She looks into the fire between us. I watch her burned hands fold and thumbs rub against each other.</p><p>
“That’s why we have to leave as soon as possible,” Mikrovos reminded.</p><p>
“The whole Earth...millions of lives are going to suffer because of me. All because I went on that stupid mission.” I grab the pebble underneath my foot and throw it into the fire. Before my eyes, it reddens. It then slowly blackens.</p><p>
“I’ve said it before and I’ve said it again, what’s-”</p><p>
I turned to him and shouted, “So, what if I want to mope? It’s because of me millions are going to die. It’s because of my stupid rashness I’m going to bring about a second intergalactic war on Earth.”</p><p>
“Yeah, and what of it? What can you possibly do to even prevent that from happening? You only survived that whole fucking journey we went on because of me. You don’t have the strength and you definitely don’t have the intelligence to even go against them.”</p><p>
My eyebrows furrowed. My fists shook. I opened my mouth, but I quickly closed it and turned away from him as soon as I realized he’s right. If I hadn’t met Mikrovos I would’ve died out there a long time ago. I would’ve died right from the beginning.</p><p>
“This isn’t the time to argue,” Ashley butted in.</p><p>
“It’s most definitely the time to argue. She needs to finally get it through her damn head that there’s absolutely nothing she can do. She just has to live with it.”</p><p>
“And is that how you feel?”</p><p>
“Ashley,” he grunted. His nostrils flared as he snorted.</p><p>
“Is that how you’ve been feeling all your life?”</p><p>
He gets up and makes sure to look directly into Ashley’s eyes as he expresses his irritation towards her not stopping, “I’m not sleeping here tonight. I’m sleeping somewhere else.”</p><p>
As he heads into the crops, Saamuki calls out to him, but it doesn’t change his mind in the slightest. So, she sighs and looks at Ashley.</p><p>
“What,” Ashley asked.</p><p>
“You know how he feels about it.”</p><p>
“And he knew how she feels about this.”</p><p>
Again, Saamuki sighs. “I’m heading to bed. She bends down and uses her hand to swat away the pebbles that were across the ground. After she’s done, she lays down and goes to sleep.</p><p>
“Feels about what,” I asked Ashley.</p><p>
“We should be getting some sleep too,” she ignored.</p><p>
My eyes open. It’s still dark. The fire is still burning, but it’s not as lively as earlier. I also see her arms are wrapped around my waist.</p><p>
I try to slip out of her grip, but she wakes up before I can. Actually, she’s sort of awake. She’s half-asleep. “You’re going to Mikrovos, aren’t you,” she slurred out.</p><p>
“Yea.”</p><p>
She lets go. Her eyes are still closed. “Make sure you get enough sleep when you get back.”</p><p>
I kiss her forehead. I know we’re married. So, it felt natural to do so, but I still don’t remember. At least it gets her to go back to sleep.</p><p>
The moonlight cut between the dense crops, allowing me to see his hoofprints. So, I followed them. I followed them until I found a familiar figure slouching above a bank in front of a small stream. He throws a pebble into it.</p><p>
Nearing closer, I see his ears twitch. I hear his nose sniffing the air. He knows it’s me. So, it doesn’t surprise me when he asks, “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be sleeping with the others? It won’t be too long until daylight.”</p><p>
Taking a seat next to him, I throw my own pebble into the running water as well. It’s not the type of rock that hops across water when thrown. It’s just like any other rock. It sinks into the water, but it felt calming to watch it join with the other rocks at the bottom. I then go straight to asking, “What did Ashley mean back there?”</p><p>
He looks at the reflection of the moon in the dark blue water before us. “Your planet is beautiful. It’s way more beautiful than my homeworld.”</p><p>
Instead of the stream now lies mud. There’s lots of it. For miles, it’s just mud. Well, not entirely mud. There are small patches of grass that have sprouted out every other foot. I also notice that I’m bent down and my hand is reaching forward. It plucks some out. It’s not my normal hand, though. It’s not even a human hand. It’s much larger and it’s covered in brown fur. I watch myself drop the patch of grass into a wooden basket. I then take a step forward and bend down. Again, I pluck some grass and drop it into the basket. I do this over and over until it’s full. When it is, I turn around and walk towards the mountain that had suddenly appeared behind me.</p><p>
Teeth gritting the basket, my hands and hooves push me up the mountain. I climbed and climbed even as the wind tried to push me down. Because of how tall it is, sweat dripped off of me. It caused my fur to become sticky, but I kept climbing. Even as the mountain’s rocks became jagged and cut into my skin I remained diligent in reaching the top. Once I do I find a waterfall and in it, I see my face is no longer human, but it’s familiar. I know this face. It’s Mikrovos’. I jump into its pool and walk across it with the basket above my head. The water is up to my chest. It’s freezing, causing me to shiver, but I continue.</p><p>
A cave’s mouth stood before me. It’s not dark. Inside there’s light. Lots of it. Inside there are voices. There are hundreds of them. I shouldn’t be here. My head is telling me I should turn around, but my body stepped in. It’s as if it’s forced to. It wants to run away as well, but it just can’t. I’m just too scared.</p><p>
Inside the cave is a bustling market. I see Tauvoxes everywhere I look. Unlike the market that was filled with criminals, this one isn’t filled with happy faces. They talk among themselves, but it’s out of necessity. They ask for meat, vegetables, fruits, and clothes. Sure, they did the same over there, but at least there was substance to it. At least they liked talking to each other. Here it feels like one wrong move like something as little as accidentally bumping into someone and a fight will break loose. The smell isn’t any better either. Sweat, which isn’t mine as mine died as soon as I went into the pool, masks the grilling meat. Everything around me is gross, is wrong, which becomes even more apparent the deeper I go. What was once just the stench of sweat is now combined with decay and sewage. Speaking of the latter, I see a greenish water drip down in front of me. Following where it came from, I look up to see pipes running all over the cave’s ceiling. Steam puffs out from some of them and one of them, where the dirty water droplet came from, has a slowly growing hole. I try not to gag.</p><p>
Waving off a thick cloud of smoke, I finally came across what I’ve been looking for. I stand before a poorly made home, one made out of trash, Although, it’s not like the homes around it don’t share the same crummy feature. Even the shops are made out of trash as well.</p><p>
As my heart races, I step inside. Who greets me is a female and much older version of Mikrovos. “Where’s dad,” I asked her. While I heard my voice come out of his mouth she must’ve heard her son’s voice seeing she was unfazed.</p><p>
His mother’s voice is shaky as she responds with, “He’s-”</p><p>
“Mikrovos, is that you?” The voice came from another room. I assume it to be his father and I’m proven correct with someone that looked like an older version of him comes around the corner. I freeze, unable to answer him once our eyes meet. “Hey! I’m talking to you!”</p><p>
“Honey, the neighbors will hear if you-” She doesn’t get to finish her sentence. Her husband slaps her across her face and she falls because of it. As she rubs the site, I run over to her and help her stand back up. In the process, though, I dropped the basket. The grass fell to the floor, causing Mikrovos’ father to turn his anger towards me. He pulls me off of her and slams me against a wall. His hand clutched my chest hair and in the corner of my eye, I saw Mikrovos’ mother watch in fear. I know she wants to help, but she’s too scared to.</p><p>
“I’ve waited all day for you to come back. I’ve waited all day for that damn grass,” he crouches down and picks up the grass, “And you just let it fall to the floor. Now it’s dirty. It’s not good anymore.” My eyes watered as I watched him raise a fist at me. I thought he was going to punch me, but instead, he threw the grass at my face. He lets go of me soon after.</p><p>
“Then, he walked out the door,” Mikrovos broke me out of my imagination.</p><p>
From his reflection I watch him sadden. “I’m sorry.”</p><p>
Ignoring my sympathy, he goes on to continue, “All my life I’ve been abused, but who am I to complain? My mother had it worse. Even now, even after they’re both gone, she bared much more than what I’ve been through.”</p><p>
Returning to my mind’s reenactment of Mikrovos’ past, I am seen plucking out grass like the last time. The time, though, I see my reflection in a small puddle. I see my lip has been split. As I stare down at my reflection, I rub the cut. My blood is then smeared across my hand. Seeing it, I get angry. I shout to the sky about wishing if only I had the strength to give his father a piece of my mind. I didn’t expect an answer, but he came. I see his face in the puddle as well. It’s The Commander’s face. “I think I can help with that,” he offered.</p><p>
“W-Who are you,” I questioned innocently.</p><p>
The Commander is much younger compared to the version I’ve grown to despise. He should be about Mikrovos’ current age. Maybe a little older. However, this doesn’t remove him from the creepy demeanor I’ve known him for.</p><p>
“A friend.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I had a bad feeling about him right from the moment our eyes met, but I was just so hurt. The siege happened because I showed him where my village was hiding. I tried saving them, but I wasn’t able to. I was too late. He found me once again. This time the remains of my village collapsed onto me. For years they used it against me. For years they reminded me. For years I’ve regretted it.” Again, Mikrovos grabs a pebble. This time it hops across the water. Each ripple is bigger than the last. It breaks our reflection in the process as well. Rather than joining the other ones at the bottom, it lands on the other bank in front of us. Once it does he hugs himself and lowers his ears.</p><p>
“I would’ve done the same if I was in your situation. I mean you were just a kid. Your dad did all those things to the both of you…”</p><p>
“We didn’t always live like that. My dad, he wasn’t always like that. There was this civil war that broke out when I was too young to remember. My dad was a soldier in it. After he got back, he became the man you now know of. He saw a lot of terrible things. He ate that grass to help him suppress those memories.”</p><p>
“But that doesn’t make it right.”</p><p>
“It’s not like what I did was right either. There’s no such thing as bad people. There are just people.” He looks straight into his reflection, which now has the moon’s reflection resting behind it.</p><p>
“Even your old commander?”</p><p>
He gulps “Yeah, even him. He did some messed up things, but he did some good things too when he was alive.”</p><p>
“Mikrovos?”</p><p>
“Yeah?”</p><p>
“Is this why you keep saying Earth is beautiful?”</p><p>
“Everywhere throughout the universe, people kill people. In the process, planets are harmed. Many have caused the deaths of their homeworlds because of it. However, your people have managed to keep your planet thriving,” his hand brushes between the blades of grass beneath us. “It’s a shame we’re going to leave its atmosphere in a few hours.”</p><p>
I’m about to say something, but I yawn. I feel myself slipping into unconsciousness. I nearly fall into the stream, but he catches me before I can. I then muttered something to him. He just smirks. The last thing I see is him heading back into the crops with me in his arms.</p><p>
Even as I cover my eyes from the sun I squint. I stretch and let out another yawn. My eyes water because of it. “Hey. You’re finally awake,” Ashley excitedly remarked from in front of a new bonfire. She’s sitting next to a dead fish. It’s been stabbed right through its chest with a large stick. The dead animal leans above the fire.</p><p>
As I sit up and rub my eyes, “Where’s everyone?”</p><p>
“They’re on top of the ship, repairing,” she hands me the newly cooked fish, “Here. You must be hungry.”</p><p>
I blow at it until it’s cool. When it is, I bite into it. My teeth sinking into its skin causes it to make a crunching noise. Once my taste buds are hit with its savory flavor my mouth waters. “How is this so good,” I spoke between my chews.</p><p>
“You don’t remember much, but you’re the same as always,” she shakes her head teasingly, “But you’re going to choke if you talk and try to stuff it all down at the same time.”</p><p>
“But it’s so good. How can I not?” Because my mouth is full as I talked, I accidentally spit out some of the fish’s freshly cooked meat onto her.</p><p>
She wipes it off. “Oh, how did I ever fall in love with you?”</p><p>
I look at her, finished, with crumbs all over my mouth. She licks her thumb and wipes them away. “Yeah, how did we fall in love?”</p><p>
“Well, we were young. I told you I could cook-”</p><p>
“Wait a minute. Did I eat like this every day?” She nods. “Stupid government for erasing my memories of that. No wonder I risked my life to save yours.”</p><p>
She smiles as she rolls her eyes. “No, but really, we were young. Earth was being taken over.”</p><p>
I see myself sitting and crying in the middle of a field just like this. My hands are covered in blood. They’re not mine. They’re from someone I should know. They’re cold. I felt alone. I felt trapped. Trapped from what I’m not so sure about. It could be from the spaceships passing overhead or from me being lost. As deep into my thoughts as I was, they vanished right when I heard a higher version of Ashley’s current voice, which makes sense seeing that a much younger version of her waved a hand across my face. At the time, she had long, blonde hair.</p><p>
“Hey? You okay?” I didn't answer her. She sets her hand flat in front of me, which causes me to flinch. “I’m not going to hurt you. Don’t worry. I’m a friend,” she continued.</p><p>
My hand shook as I reached out to it. I looked into her eyes. She smiles and I can feel my face heat up. Once our hands connect she helps me up. She chuckles and I chuckle too. We both don’t notice how red I’ve gotten, but it doesn’t matter. My heart fluttered hearing her laugh and I’m sure hers did too. However, this doesn’t last long. She notices the dried blood on my hand and then looks at me with worry in her eyes. “It’s not mine,” I assured her.</p><p>
She turns around. “It’s clear. It’s just another human.” A group of other kids comes pushing between the crops.</p><p>
He looked like the oldest. He’s the tallest and the only one out of the boys in the group to have facial hair. “Blood? Is she wounded?” Sure, he sounded cornered on the surface. However, his face said otherwise. So, he must’ve forced the words out.</p><p>
“No. It’s not hers.”</p><p>
“Well, then, there’s nothing we can do. Now come on.” He nudges towards his left.</p><p>
“You want to just leave her here?”</p><p>
“Ashley, if you hadn’t noticed it already the world as we knew it is gone. We can’t afford another mouth to feed. Besides, she looks like she’ll slow us down.” He makes sure to make eye contact with me with that last part.</p><p>
Back then I was not the skinniest kid. I ate. I loved sweets. I had a sweet tooth for it, but as childish as that sounds there’s also another reason why I ate so much. I ate to appease my emotions. I ate to hide the fact I knew my mother resented me, hated me. I knew whenever she looked at me she saw the one that took away the only person that loved her. I also knew that eating away my emotions did more harm than good. I knew eating my pain away wouldn’t blind me for long. It didn’t last as long as I wanted it to, but I just had to do it. At least that’s what I told myself back then.</p><p>
“She’s just a kid. She lost her family like the rest of us, but we’re a family. We need to be her family.”</p><p>
“Now I didn’t have a crush on you right then and there, but you did. You told me that no one else had ever stuck up for you like that, especially not a stranger,” current Ashley explained.</p><p>
“Wow. I told you a lot.”</p><p>
“We’ve spent a lot of our whole lives together. It makes sense that you would, but you were quite the talker. I mean you talked a lot, but I’d of course listen. Even if it didn’t make sense sometimes I loved hearing your voice, especially seeing you get all giddy as you spoke to me.”</p><p>
Because of how lovingly she looks at me, I blush. She laughs at it. She teases me for it, but her face reddens as well. I tease her for it too.</p><p>
We didn’t talk much after that. Here and there we spoke, but I don’t know. We just didn’t hit it off at the time. Maybe it was because my younger self was shy. Maybe it was because I didn’t know how to talk to girls. Still, I admired her from afar. I kept my feelings a secret until the day we ran away from the group. I held her hand as I led her away from the group.</p><p>
Still, in my mind, I hear her words come out of younger Ashley’s mouth, “I think...Yeah, that was the moment I started to fall for you.”</p><p>
Coming back to reality, “Really?”</p><p>
“Yeah, for all my life up to then I was putting myself in danger to protect others. I don’t know maybe it’s selfish to even say this, but it was nice to have someone protecting me for once.”</p><p>
I place my hand on top of hers. “I know you’re my wife. I get that, but I don’t remember. You can tell me all you want about our past, but as important as they are to us it doesn’t matter in the end because I don’t need them to be reminded that I want to protect you. That I will protect you. I won’t let anyone or anything hurt you ever again until death do us part.”</p><p>
She leans in. The kiss feels familiar. Like we’ve kissed like this before. Maybe it was at our wedding, but it feels too raw to show it publicly. It feels too special to share with others, which is ironic considering we’re out in the open. This becomes more apparent with a cough coming from behind us. So, our lips depart and we turn to see Mikrovos trying to look away from us. “The ship,” he points his thumb over to its direction, “is done.”</p><p>
She stands up and then helps me up. “Oh. Right. Well, we should get going then,” Ashley told me.</p><p>
I turn away from them. I look at the crops swaying around us. It’s like they’re dancing with the wind.</p><p>
“I’ll just go on ahead,” Mikrovos informed us as he scratched the back of his head.</p><p>
As I continue to watch the crops, she places a hand onto my shoulder. “What is it,” she asked.</p><p>
“We already know that I don’t remember much, but that just makes this harder to just leave. I wish I knew. I mean you can tell me, but it’s not the same. You know?”</p><p>
“Yeah, but it’s just like what you said. You don’t need those memories. You’re about to make new, better ones.” I turned to her, wondering why she said that last part. “Your past wasn’t all that great. Sometimes it’s just better to forget than to remember.” Sure, her words were directed at me, but the look in her eyes makes me think she’s telling herself that.</p><p>
A dark, but familiar shadow loomed overhead. Saamuki’s spaceship lowered. When its door lowered as well, she greeted us. Well, it wasn’t so much as a greeting. “Get inside. Now,” she commanded. We don’t hesitate to do as she asked. Once we’re inside the both of us ask what’s happening.</p><p>
We get our answer when we’re once again getting shot at by The Confederacy. The ship rocks from side to side, causing us to stumble around. As we do, she orders for the AI to fly us away from Earth immediately. It does so with such a speed that we’re forced to stay flat on the floor until it slows.</p><p>
From the window I see Earth. I see the planet I grew up on. I see the planet that I called home. However, I’ve grown indifferent to it. I want to cry, but with her holding my hand I turn away from it. I look where everyone else is looking. We’re looking towards the infinite beauty that is outer space. We look toward the future that lies ahead. “Maybe one day I can make this right,” I told myself as I watch Earth grow small and smaller in the corner of my eye.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sending the Earth to its doom, an unnamed Space Explorer must now try to prevent the demise of millions of humans by risking her life.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Chapters 11-15 are Part 3.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I sat on the windowsill. My shoulder is pressed against the glass as I watch the planets fly past us, blurring past us as a river of thousands of colors, which splash against the ship. A tear goes down my cheek. It splashes onto my palm as I rub my thumb against its cold, but soft surface. Noticing my reflection, the sorrow on my face, causes me to bend and fold my fingers into a fist. Lifting my head, I meet with her reflection. She’s sitting down, watching everything fly past us as well. I’m not sure what’s on her mind, but I feel bad for taking away the only home she’s ever known and forcing her into a world she’s only known from my stories. Earlier it sounded like she wanted to get away from it, but I don’t like how I made her do this. If I could I would’ve given her a choice. I would’ve given her time.</p><p>
Because I surrounded myself in a bubble, I flinched at the ship’s alarm. “Captain Saamuki, the ship’s fuel is at three percent,” the AI explained.</p><p>
She sighs before asking, “Is it at least enough to get us to the nearest planet with fuel?”</p><p>
“Yes, it’s more than enough. However, that planet is inhabited by the Nantos.”</p><p>
With the reveal of the alien species’ name Mikrovos’ ears twitch. “Can’t you find another planet?”</p><p>
“Unfortunately, this is the closest planet with intelligent life. Therefore-”</p><p>
Turning to him, “Mikorvos?”</p><p>
“I’m staying in the ship as you guys get the fuel.”</p><p>
“I’m not going to be much help,” Ashley reminded us of her injury.</p><p>
“And I’m not going to be doing anything hands-on anytime soon either,” Saamuki also reminded us of her injuries.</p><p>
“Look, I just can’t step foot on that planet, okay?” My stubborn friend crosses his arms.</p><p>
My wife stood up and walked towards him. The AI stood between the two of them. She looked directly into his eyes, past the computer-generated face, as she tapped her foot against the floor. “Mikorvos, this isn’t the time to argue. We need your help so that we can get as far away from your people as soon as possible.”</p><p>
He grunted. In the reflection in her eyes, I saw his mouth open. He showed his teeth and made sure she saw his fangs. He raises his fists and moves them all too close to her, causing me to get up, but when he instead turns away from her rather than get physical I let out a sigh of relief. “As long as Saamuki is with me, I’m sure I’ll be able to do Mikorvos’ job. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the strongest Space Explorer, but with what I must’ve done when I was one I shouldn’t be someone you should dismiss from this situation.”</p><p>
All of them turn to me. Saamuki looks at me with concern in her eyes. “Unlike Earthling ships, ships we use run on crystals. The one for this type of ship is much smaller compared to the ones used for other ships, but they’re extremely heavy nonetheless.”</p><p>
“Well, I’m sure I’ll manage. Besides, it’s not like we have any other choice.“</p><p>
“If it’s too much for you...maybe I can get a Nantos, or whatever else could be on that planet to help.”</p><p>
“You’re going to be okay, right?”</p><p>
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”</p><p>
“Well…” My eyes pointed to the brooding Mikrovos sitting in the windowsill.</p><p>
“I’ll just keep my distance from him until he gets back, but while I do can you promise me that you’re not going to hurt yourself by lifting that crystal?”</p><p>
“I promise, but,” I flexed my muscles, “that crystal should instead be worrying about me.”</p><p>
This gets a chuckle out of her and my heart fluttering out of me. If I’m not able to fix what I’ve caused to Earth then I’ll at least try to fix what I did to her. No, I must. I have to keep making her happy. I can’t hurt her. I have to protect her from it. I have to protect her from my impulses, from myself.</p><p>
Crystals had sprung out of the ground. They created a dense forest with their varying shapes, sizes, and colors. Speaking of their colors, from underneath them different shades of reds and blues bent within them, bouncing from one of its sides to another. It faded in and out, following the same rhythm as my heartbeat. Saamuki led me to an alien whose species I’ve met before. He’s the same species as that ringmaster who orchestrated that fantastical fight back on that desert planet. So, his physiology is blob-like, but his clothing told me he doesn’t live to entertain others. It’s the opposite. He’s wearing a robe with three shades of orange and a bright yellow sash. As I note that his hands are hidden, I also note a dark circle that’s been imprinted on his forehead.</p><p>
“We’re here to-”</p><p>
He sets his hand in front of my snakelike companion before she can finish. I note the several holes and scratches on it as he spoke, “You are here because you wish to be given something from my people. For that to be, you must first offer us something of value.”</p><p>
Before I can omit my frustration Saamuki places her hand in front of my face. “I am the last of my people, so I am the only one with the knowledge of the last three days of my planet.”</p><p>
“Ah, yes, we have gotten word of the demise of your planet. Unfortunately, writing of its final year has come a few and far between, especially its last days. Your knowledge will be a great addition to our library.” Moving his hand closer, placing it on her forehead, I become worried. Her eyes become blank as the circle on his forehead glows. Before I can act it’s already over. She falls to her knees and throws up. I go to her and pat her back, hoping to relieve whatever pain she’s feeling.</p><p>
Once I helped her up, “What did you do to her?” The ground rumbles as his forehead glows. Behind him, the crystals separate from one another, creating a passageway that led to a cave. “Hey. Answer me.”&lt;</p><p>
“It’s okay. I’m alright,” Saamuki responded but she’s clearly out of breath.</p><p>
“All are welcome into the Nantos’ temple. He bows and as I led her into the makeshift passageway I looked at him. He doesn’t look at me. I had a feeling he wouldn’t, but I just needed him to know if he did something permanent to her, something fatal to her, then I wouldn’t hesitate to bring him down as well.</p><p>
Just like on the surface crystals sprouted all over the ground and even on the walls and ceiling. It gave the cave light. It gave it life.</p><p>
Hundreds of Nantos walked about. Most of them had their foreheads glowing as their hands covered the vegetation wrapped around the crystal before them. Half of them caused the plants to levitate and be pushed into the basket sitting in their laps. A few of them used that same power to move large orbs of water onto the newly freed crystals. The rest meditated. All of them paid no mind to us. “It’s none of these, right?”</p><p>
“Right. The crystal we’re looking for is much darker. The crystals we’ve seen so far would barely get us off this planet.” With that last word spoken she coughs. Some of her blood spit out as well. Most of it lands before us and the rest sit on her lips.</p><p>
“Saamuki!”</p><p>
She tries waving my worry away. “It’s fine. My sister was here before. She had to do that same thing too. It’s draining, but it only lasts for a few hours. Just help me walk and I’ll tell you which one it is.”</p><p>
I helped her the rest of the way without another word, but worry still hit me throughout it. Once we find the crystal I gently set her down and turn towards it. Unlike the ones I saw earlier, this one is a dark purple and is much smaller. Because it’s half of my size, confusion circles my mind. I expected it to be as big as Mikrovos or at the very least an inch taller than me, but once I tried lifting it I understood why she needed him. My arms and legs shake as I try to pry it off the ground. In height, it’s shorter and in width, it’s skinnier, but it managed to be heavier than me. Sweat rose at the brim of my forehead and my back began to burn. I was carrying it right. I was using my legs rather than my back, but it’s just that heavy.</p><p>
“Hey. Don’t push yourself. I’ll get-”</p><p>
“No, I got this,” I grunted between shaky breaths.</p><p>
I felt it slide out of its hold, but because I celebrated too soon I let go. It slipped back into the ground. One of my eyes twitched. I placed my grip back onto it. I sunk my nails into it. I felt like I was going to blackout. Thankfully, a familiar set of brown fur-covered hands wrapped themselves around the crystal too. It’s able to be pried out easily. I turned around to thank Mikrovos for changing his mind at the right time, but instead, my heart dropped. While he’s a Tauvox he isn’t the face I thought I’d see. His body is just like The Commander’s, but his face is slimmer. It’s more angular like it’s triangular.</p><p>
As he sets the crystal on his shoulder, “It’s good to finally meet you, human.” I stand frozen as his eyes meet with mine, causing him to smirk.</p><p>
Still drained, all Saamuki can do is talk. “How-how did you find us?”</p><p>
“Us Tauvoxes has excellent tracking skills. We are a barbaric race, yes, but we know how to use our means.” He points a finger behind his neck.</p><p>
My eyes widen. My hands attack the chip still inside my neck.</p><p>
“It’s much too late for that, human. However, I wouldn’t do that if I were you. One wrong move and it’ll send a fatal electric shock.” I slowly move my hands away from my neck. “But I’m not here for conflict, at least not yet. You see, there’s a little tournament that’s going to happen by tomorrow and I want Mikorvos to enter. Unfortunately, he declined my invitation. So, I was hoping you’d change his mind.”</p><p>
“Knowing him, there’s a reason why he doesn’t want to be part of it. I’m not going to be played by people like you, especially when it means putting my friend in danger.”</p><p>
“Even if it means the chance of ending our little raid on your homeworld?”</p><p>
“What do you mean?”</p><p>
“Ever since the fall of The Commander the Tauvoxes have gone into chaos. There isn’t any clear leadership. Sure, I was his second, but my power only lasted during his command. The tournament I speak of will determine our next commander and if Mikrovos wins he’ll take full leadership even if he’s a low-class Tauvox, especially one that willingly left our ranks. From the face you’re making, I see I’ve interested you.”</p><p>
“Don’t listen to him. He’s a high ranking Tauvox. He’s a Space Pirate too!”</p><p>
“Now. Now. Let the girl make up her mind. She’s old enough to.”</p><p>
“I can save it. I can fix this, but Mikrovos…”</p><p>
“He’ll listen to you. He’s gotten close with you, soft for you.”</p><p>
“But I can’t just make him do this. Isn’t there another way? Can’t I just take his place?”</p><p>
My offer gets him to laugh. It echoes and rings in my ears. “A human fight against hundreds of Tauvoxes? You won’t survive past five minutes. Maybe if you’re lucky you’ll make it to ten.”</p><p>
“I don’t care. I’m never going to put any of my friends’ lives at risk. Besides, this is my fault. I have to fix this. I have to be the one to enter.”</p><p>
“Humans always let their pride speak for them,” he shakes his head, “Well, I’ll see what I can do. It was hard enough as it was to get them to let all Tauvoxes enter, but before I do will you shake on it? If they agree to your offer will you commit to your words?” He moves his free hand in front of me.</p><p>
I gulp. In the corner of my eye, Saamuki wants me to rethink my decision. In front of me, the Tauvox is giving me a devilish grin. It’s obvious this is all a game to him. It’s obvious I’m a pawn that fell right into his arms, but I don’t fight free. I shake his hand.</p><p>
“My name is Syco and it’s a pleasure to do business with you.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You what,” both Mikrovos and Ashley shouted at me. Mikrovos had his arms crossed and Ashley placed her working hand on my shoulder. “Are you insane,” Ashley continued.</p><p>
“I know it all sounds crazy right now.”</p><p>
He rolled his eyes before, “Of course it sounds crazy because it is crazy. We just saved you and now you’re out here trying to get yourself killed? Don’t tell me you got your common sense erased too.”</p><p>
Sure, maybe it’s best that many of my memories have been erased, but they’re my memories. From the good to the downright horrible ones they were mine, but they took them away from me. They just took away a part of me.</p><p>
Brushing her hand off of me and taking a step towards Mikrovos, “Well, maybe I wouldn’t have to do any of this if you just sucked it up and did your job. Maybe if you were my actual friend you wouldn’t just shout at me every time I did something stupid because what’s shouting going to do? I did it and there’s nothing you can do about it. You sit on your high chair thinking you’re better than others. That you’re better than me because you say you’re trying to protect people. They’re just words, Mikorvos.” I dig my finger into his chest’s fur.</p><p>
Pushing my finger off of him, “What are you talking about? I’ve risked my life for you countless times.”</p><p>
“And you couldn’t just do it one more time?”</p><p>
“Yes, because if I,” he raises his hands to air quote the next three words, “did my job then we wouldn’t have been able to get the fuel. Last time I was here it didn’t end as nicely as it did with you two.”</p><p>
“I remember that mission.” Syco with his hands behind his back and a now-healthy Saamuki make their way out of the engine room and towards us. Mikrovos and Ashley tense up. Both of them stand in front of me. Mikrovos points both his fists and horns at him. “As I said with your human earlier, I’m not here for conflict. I’m merely here as a messenger. Well, now add me doing some heavy lifting for you as well.“</p><p>
“Get away from her and out of our ship. Now,” the other Tauvox ordered with a deep growl.</p><p>
“Of course. This is your ship, but,” he lets out a laugh, “I do find it quite the development you are ordering me. At one point you feared me, but now you’re willing to fight me. I’ll respect your words, but we both know fighting is pointless. If I was really here for the reason you take that offensive stance you would’ve been already dead. All of you would’ve already been dead.”</p><p>
“I know what you’re trying to do, Syco.”</p><p>
“Oh?”</p><p>
“You’re trying to get in our heads like you always do. Like you always did with me.”</p><p>
“I’m just stating the facts, Mikorvos.” He shrugged.</p><p>
“I’ll enter that stupid tournament. Just leave her out of this. Leave her out of our business.”</p><p>
“No,” I shoved myself into their conversation. “You think I’m fragile. You all think I am. Well, I’m not.”</p><p>
“This isn’t the time,” Ashley pointed out.</p><p>
“I’m entering that tournament whether you all like it or not.”</p><p>
“Humans, Mikrovos. Once they already made up their mind there’s no way of stopping them. Besides, I just put it on the table. She’s the one that wanted a slice, to be part of,” the taller Tauvox raises his hands to air quote the following words, “our business.”</p><p>
Ignoring Syco’s mocking, “You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.”</p><p>
“Sure, maybe I don’t, but this is my business. I have to be the one to do this.”</p><p>
“Well, then I should be on my way.” As Syco walked past us, Mikrovos turned to me. At first, his eyes showed disappointment but once he looked into my eyes he grew sympathetic. His ears lowered and he was about to say something, but he turned away from me before he could.</p><p>
Turning towards Syco, “Wait. If they allow me how will I know where it’s going to be? What time?”</p><p>
“As long as you don’t do anything to tamper that little chip inside you then you don’t need to worry about receiving the official invitation. Now, with that settled, I’ll be heading off to turn your ‘if’ into a ‘when’, which shouldn’t be too long of a job because it’s like your companion over,” his eyes pointed at Mikrovos, “there said. My words get into people’s heads.”</p><p>
With that, he left us to ourselves. We were silent. The empty atmosphere had my focus look at my hands. My heart raced as I quickly began to realize what I was getting myself into. I could barely lift that crystal. I don’t know how to fight. All I do know is panic and make awful judgments because of it. So, they’re right. I’m going to get myself killed.</p><p>
Interrupting us of our thoughts is the AI’s voice. “An incoming message is being transmitted from Cabelo.”</p><p>
“Cabelo? Shoot. Wait. Don’t-”</p><p>
The AI reconfigured itself to look like Cabelo, or at least I think that’s him considering how stiff Saamuki became once their eyes met. His face is broad and looks like it’s masked in flames. Three eyes looked into her two eyes. “Saamuki, I did not gift you with that ship just so you can fly around and not do your job. Clients have been asking for you for weeks. Where have you been?” Because of her hesitation and especially how her eyes looked past him and pointed at us, he turns away from her and follows them. None of us knew who he was, so we shouldn’t have become as petrified as Saamuki, but we are. “Who are these people? They don’t look like anyone that could afford you, especially with those rags. What happened to that red one’s shoulder?”</p><p>
“Cabelo, I can explain.”</p><p>
“Then, explain.”</p><p>
My hand scooped the purple sand that laid beneath me and squeezed itself between my crevasses. If it was Earth’s sand I would’ve been uncomfortable, but the sand on this planet is much softer. It’s as soft as marshmallows and it’s even sweet as them. That’s not to say I moved my hand close to my lips and licked the cartoonish rock and mineral particles. Its sweet scent is strong. As soon as we stepped onto the beach, it hit my nose and it’s been filling up my nose since.</p><p>
I slowly watched the sand fall off my hand and back onto the beach. The sight is soothing. It should’ve soothed me, but panic still hits me. I’m so stupid. I got myself into this situation, but whatever is coming I deserve it. I’ve caused so much pain. From all the times Mikrovos, Ashley, and Saamuki have risked their lives for me to how the rest of humanity is taking the fault for my actions I have to be the one to stand before the danger with my chest out and head up. I have to be the one this time.</p><p>
In the corner of my eye, she takes a seat next to me. “Hey. Are you okay?” Ashley is worried about me. Rightfully so. I haven’t talked to any of them since our conversation with Syco.</p><p>
Throwing the rest of the sand down, “Yeah. Of course, I am. Have you heard anything from Saamuki yet?”</p><p>
“No? Kind of? Mikrovos just got back from eavesdropping and he told me Saamuki’s boss is making her choose between us and her job.”</p><p>
Speaking of which, “I don’t like how he’s talking to her. I don’t like how he’s treating her. He’s shouting at her like she’s a child.” I raise an eyebrow at him. “Saamuki doesn’t like expressing how she really feels. Talking to her like that is only making her distance herself from her emotions even more.”</p><p>
“And when did you get to know her so well,” I asked.</p><p>
Looking away from us and scratching the back of his head, “While you were away we just got close.”</p><p>
Ashley and I look at each other. She gives me a puzzled look before I continue, “This is Saamuki we’re talking about. She’s very resilient even if Cabelo is pushing her buttons and speaking of the devil...”</p><p>
Cabelo and Saamuki step onto the sand and walk towards us. Because she didn’t look weary, I’m not as stressed as Mikrovos is as he glares at her boss.</p><p>
Fire and coal pushed against each other to make a humanlike figure. As he walked with her, the chunks of sand he walked on emitted smoke. “You three must be the ones that I saw in her ship not too long ago.”</p><p>
Mikrovos’ eyebrows etched. His fists clenched at his sides. “And you must be-”</p><p>
Saamuki places her hand in front of him before he can finish, knowing what he was about to say was going to get the relationship between us and him even more charred. With that, he loosens up, but he’s still making his feelings towards her boss quite obvious.</p><p>
“Saaamuki, dear, would you be so kind as to tell your friends the wonderful news?”</p><p>
Eyes looking away, she explains, “I’m sorry, but I have to stay here.”</p><p>
As shocked and as hurt as the two of us are, it doesn’t come close to the reaction of my horned friend. “What?”</p><p>
In the reflection in her eyes, I saw his eyes water. He’s about to grab her, touch her, but Cabelo places his arm around her shoulder. “Our sweet Saamuki has been through too much. She lost her sister and is now injured. Her hands are burned and will be in pain for some time. It’s in hers and your best interest that she remains in her home rather than with you three,” his grip on her tightens, “Now get along.”</p><p>
None of us get the chance to change the decision that was made behind closed doors because a couple of guards grab us and lead us away from them. Each of us tries to call out to Saamuki as they roughly handle us, but she looks away.</p><p>
We were thrown into Saamuki’s ship. Mikrovos tried running out, but the ship’s door had already closed. Still, he’s determined. He tried banging on the door to open and called forth for the AI.</p><p>
After it configures itself, “I am dreadfully sorry, but I have received orders to depart from this planet.”</p><p>
“But Saamuki is still down there. She’s down there with that creep. Who cares about orders? Don’t you care about her,” I asked frantically.</p><p>
“Cabelo is the owner of this ship. His orders override everyone else’s orders even those that are friends with my captain.” Hearing this, Mikorvos grunts. The AI ignores his frustration, “Where shall I fly you three to?”</p><p>
“Take us to the nearest habitable planet from here,” Ashley responded.</p><p>
The AI did so without hesitation. As it does, “What are you doing? We’re getting further away from her,” he commented with even more annoyance.</p><p>
“Yes, I know, but we can’t be here right now. We have to think things through rather than just jumping into it because not only would it put ourselves at risk but Saamuki as well.” Knowing she’s right, he sits and tries to calm himself down. “Wait a minute,” she turns her attention back to the AI, “does Saamuki have a recurring client?”</p><p>
“Yes, Captain Saamuki does.”</p><p>
“Then, take us wherever they are.”</p><p>
“Understood.”</p><p>
Ashley made eye contact with me. One by one things piled up in front of us. The look in my eyes told her I know.</p><p>
Leaning against the windowsill, I watched her try to rest her hand on his shoulder from their reflection. She retracts her hand long before she can. I then remove my focus from them and move it towards the blurring lines, the stars, moving along the black abyss that is outer space. I sigh. I should be worrying about Saamuki, but I’m too worried about the tournament. I just don’t want to hurt her or anyone else again.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Getting out of the ship, we stepped onto a floating island. Hundreds of intertwining branches stood in front of us. Below us, roots masked the dirt. Further down below, underneath the island, stood a deep, massive crater that must’ve stretched for miles.</p><p>
A shiver ran up his spine, causing him to rub either arm. “I don’t like the look of this place. Why are we even here anyway?”</p><p>
“Whoever this client of hers is must know something, but if it’s not much at least it’ll be better than nothing.”</p><p>
“Then, let’s find this guy before it gets dark. This place is giving me the creeps” So, we all headed inside without another word. Although, as soon as we enter the little forest, not only are we met with a dense fog but screams as well. “You two keep your guns at the ready.”</p><p>
Heading deeper, the fog became denser and the screams became louder. It had me clutch Saamuki’s gun tighter but caused my hand to shake as well. If something or someone were to attack I wouldn’t be ready to defend. I’d miss, giving our attacker the time to slaughter them before my eyes.</p><p>
I imagine a beast made out of shadow lunging towards us. It’s much smaller and slimmer than Mikrovos. However, it’s because of those features it’s so quick. It stabs him with his claws, cutting right through his ribs and ripping out his heart. It then squeezes it, forcing him to cry and gasp. Once it explodes he falls to the floor in his pool of blood. Next comes Ashley. While she doesn’t suffer the same treatment it’s painful nonetheless. It grabs and lifts her by her head. With her, I’m at least able to finally aim the gun, but it’s too late. All I can do is touch the trigger before it squeezes her head. It lets go of her. As I try to keep my cool, as I try to avenge their deaths, it slowly trudges towards me. I finally shoot, but the blast goes right through it. Stepping back as I cry, I trip. Before my head can hit the floor, it grabs me by my collar. My eyes then meet with its soulless expression.</p><p>
Ashley waves her hand in front of me. I blink. “Hey. I’ve been calling you for the last minute. I think we found their place,” she explained worriedly.</p><p>
“Oh. Really?” Looking past her, I see a little hut with smoke coming out of its chimney. “Then, what are we waiting for? Let’s see what this person's about.”</p><p>
I take the lead. I feel both their eyes looking at me, judging me. They quickly follow soon after.</p><p>
I don’t get to knock at their door because right when my fist is about to hit, it swings open. We’re greeted to an empty, but warm room as inside its fireplace flames cough out of it. Seeing this, that there’s seemingly no one in sight, we all looked at each other fully confused and especially creeped out, but we don’t plan to leave empty-handed. So, Mikrovos takes a step inside. He takes the lead, but he doesn’t get too far because both me and Ashley are pushed inside by the slamming of the door.</p><p>
Guns at the ready and Mikrovos readying himself as well, a gust of wind flies past us. It kills the fire. Pitch blackness fills the room, but with a snap of some disembodied fingers, the fire relighted. With it, a man stands before us. He looks human, but he looks more apelike. He’s mostly covered in fur. So, his skin is barely visible. Both of his arms have been replaced with robotic arms as well.</p><p>
“It appears things have changed.” His eyes focus on both me and Ashley.</p><p>
We sat in a circle with cups of tea in front of us. The three of us hesitate to drink it. Ashley has it swirl inside her cup and Mikrovos sniffs it. I just hold it up as our mysterious companion takes a sip of his.</p><p>
“What did you mean about how things have changed,” I asked.</p><p>
Setting his cup down and swallowing down the sip he just took, “While it is true me, you, and your friend over there may not be alike, and I wouldn’t blame you for thinking so, we are more alike than you think.”</p><p>
“And what exactly do you mean by that?”</p><p>
“During humanity’s cultural revival, it split into two different groups. Two different histories began that day. One side had a gift and wanted to share it with the stars and the other wanted to remain on Earth to continue their petty wars.”</p><p>
“Then,” I set the cup down with such force that a droplet of the tea goes up then goes back down into the now rippling liquid, “you’re human too.”</p><p>
After finally trying it, Mikrovos spits out the tea. He accidentally aims it at the man showing us hospitality, but it thankfully doesn’t come close to touching him. It’s blocked by a force field that was quickly manifested by his mechanical hand. It then falls to the floor. Steam rises from the now marked piece of floor. We look at him as he explains, “It was a little too hot.”</p><p>
As Mikrovos fans his tongue, he continues, “Technically, yes. However, we’re more like cousins rather than siblings.”</p><p>
Ashley pitches into the main conversation, “Let’s say we believe you. Where are the others like you?”</p><p>
“I abandoned my people a long time ago to pursue something more. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to contact any of them ever since.”</p><p>
Speaking with his burned tongue out, “As much as I’d like to hear the rest of this history lesson, this isn’t what we came here for.”</p><p>
“You’re right. We came here to ask if you know anything that can help us with Saamuki.”</p><p>
“Saamuki? I haven’t seen her in a while. Did something happen?”</p><p>
“She’s fine, but we need to know if you have anything that can help us sneak her past her boss. Look, it’s a long story, but we don’t have time to explain,” I clarified.</p><p>
“Cabelo,” he strokes his chin, “I’ve always had a bad feeling about him. So, it doesn’t surprise me he did something or is planning to do something to her. Well, let’s see, Saamuki did tell me the fifth time I asked for her services that Cabelo goes underneath the hotel for an hour. He does it around midnight, but I’d be wary about sneaking around that late. That’s when the hotel is the most guarded.”</p><p>
“Really? Then, it’ll be easy. We just get in and get out during that time.” While his words sounded like he was accepting this information his tone said otherwise.</p><p>
However, Ashley doesn’t catch it. “Easier said than done, Mikrovos. How are getting inside in the first place?”</p><p>
“Well, if Cabelo can go underneath the hotel then there must be hidden passageways there.”</p><p>
“So, we risk getting caught by Cabelo no less?”</p><p>
While Ashley and Mikrovos argue I get a burning pain on the back of my neck that causes me to twitch. It’s much more painful than the many electric shocks it injected into me before. So, I grab the site and tear up. They notice, which gets them to move towards me. I don’t get to see what they do next because my vision faded out from the hut and faded into the infamous spaceship before I can.</p><p>
Syco stands before me. Darkness surrounded us as a single light shined above. “Hello again, human.”</p><p>
“S-Syco? Where am I? How did I-”</p><p>
“Now. Now. Your body is still where it was previously. All that I have moved is your mind.” I lift my hands to my face. I’m able to see through them. “I too was baffled about how advanced Earthling technology has become. However, it still is primitive.”</p><p>
“Why am I here? Where is even here anyway?”</p><p>
“Don’t tell me you have forgotten already. I’m here to tell you about the update upon your signup to the tournament.” My heart dropped. I had completely forgotten about it. “Ah, now you remember. Anyways, and unsurprisingly, my convincing was a success. It will take place within our spaceship, which will be above your homeworld. As based on your coordinates, it starts when that planet turns completely dark. So, I bid you a good rest of your day.”</p><p>
The last thing I see is him bowing, but the next thing I see is Ashley crying into my chest. I move her away from me and wipe away her tears. “Ashley?”</p><p>
“You fell. We tried waking you up. You stopped breathing. I thought I lost you,” she whimpered.</p><p>
“What happened,” Mikrovos questioned.</p><p>
“It was Syco. He told me that it’s going to take place above Earth later tonight.”</p><p>
“Syco? That sounds familiar, but I’m not so sure why,” our new ally said as he stroked his chin again.</p><p>
“But, Saamuki…”</p><p>
“Sorry, but she’s going to have to wait a bit longer.” It hurt to say that. It might not have hurt as much as how he had to swallow that down, but my throat tightened after it came out of my mouth. Between the branches that made up the hut, I saw the light of the planet’s sun cut through them. Because of this, I saw their shadows creep closer and closer to us. “We need to leave. Now.”</p><p>
Before I get up I help her up. Upon me standing up my friend does as well. I then thank our recently made ally for his information, but we don’t part from each other so soon. “Please, I would like to come with you. I would like to help with your plan with Saamuki, but I also need to know why that name you spoke of earlier sounds so familiar.”</p><p>
The three of us look at one another, but because of how limited our time is, “Fine. Okay. Just show us a faster way out of this forest.”</p><p>
He places his hand in front of me. I take it. “My name is Skeema and I’ll help you any way I can for the time being.”</p><p>
We left the island much faster than when we entered. Once we get into the ship I order the AI to fly us to Earth. It does. As it flies us, I see Skeema’s hand brush against the walls of the ship.</p><p>
“I don’t like this,” my fur-covered friend whispered to me.</p><p>
“He just gave us the information we wanted. Besides, we don’t have time to drop him off.”</p><p>
“I know, but you heard it. He knows Syco. What if he double-crosses us?”</p><p>
“Skeema said he might know him, but you can just pierce your horns into him if he does.”</p><p>
“I don’t think with those hi-tech arms I’ll be able to do anything to him anytime soon.”</p><p>
“If you keep a close eye on him I’m sure he won’t try to do anything.”</p><p>
“You don’t need to tell me.” He squints at Skeema and huffs.</p><p>
I head towards Ashley. She’s sitting, so I take a seat right next to her. “You okay?”</p><p>
“Yeah. It’s just that I don’t want to lose you again. For weeks I wondered if I was ever going to see you again. For a while, I believed that kiss was our last.”</p><p>
“I’m sorry.”</p><p>
“You don’t need to apologize.”</p><p>
“No, I’m sorry, Ashley. I’m so sorry I got us into this situation.”</p><p>
“I know this is probably a terrible thing to ask, but,” she hugs herself, “How are you going to make it out? How are you going to fight against hundreds of Tauvoxes? You know how strong Mikrovos is. How are you going to fight his people?”</p><p>
“I-I don’t know. I don’t need all my memories to know I’m not a fighter. I survived out in space because I’ve always had people to protect me.”</p><p>
I look away from her, but this doesn’t stop her from placing her hand onto my cheek. Her thumb caresses it. I didn’t know it, but I was crying. “I’m sorry. We’ll find a way. We’ll find a way to save you and Earth.”</p><p>
I stopped crying, but I didn’t stop thinking. No matter how much I would like to get out of this I know I have to do this. If I could push them away, so that they’re not able to see what’s to come I would. So, that it could just be me like it should’ve been right from the beginning.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Behind us sat the void that is outer space. Sitting in front of us, blocking me from my homeworld, is the infamous spaceship. The distance between me and either side is immense, but I felt trapped. They enclosed me. They suffocated me. On the inside, I find myself failing to breathe. On the inside, I find myself wanting to scream, but on the outside, I didn’t budge. I stared straight at the ship. Even as they pulled us towards them my facial expression was blank. It’s as if I became numb. Maybe I already accepted my fate, but I have yet to accept theirs.</p><p>
We were escorted off our ship. To say it’s strange to step foot in this spaceship again and so willingly is putting it lightly. It’s weird to think I was here not too long ago, struggling to break free from their hold as they dragged me forcefully towards The Commander. I imagine my past self crying, covered in blood, and calling my late crew members to wake up. Those thoughts disappear once the sounds of cheering hit my ears, but once it does that’s when they separate us. While Skeema accepts his fate the other two try fighting free. This gets one of their escorts to throw his fist into Mikrovos’ stomach, causing him to clutch it and fall to his knees. I reach out to him but quickly lower my hand. I hold it above my chest. It’s because of me he’s hurt, so I tell them, “Please, don’t worry about me.”</p><p>
As Ashley helps him back up, they look at me. I look at them, but quickly turn away. The last thing I see is her muttering something under her breath, “Please, come back safe and sound.”</p><p>
I promised her I would, but I’m not so sure I can keep that promise. I’m sure she knows that too, but sometimes we have to lie to forget the painful truth.</p><p>
After putting on the helmet, I am once again placed between the things that have brought me nothing but pain. Above stood darkness and below is the cold, hard surface of the spaceship’s exterior. As I made myself known, I could feel their eyes on me. Not only the eyes of my opponents but the audience I’m about to entertain as well. I gulp, feeling so small compared to it all. Then, before I knew it, it began.</p><p>
Everywhere I looked Tauvoxes fought. Some collided their horns into each other and others rammed their horns through one another. Most are at a standstill as they throw punches and kicks at their opponents. It’s a war and I’m standing in the middle of it, but that doesn’t mean I’m excused. As blood spilled and drifted into the black sky, I stepped back as a group of Tauvoxes gained on me. With every step they took forward I took a step backward and pushed out a long exhale onto my helmet’s glass, causing it to fog with every other step. Once I hit a wall they cracked their knuckles and neck and whipped out a devilish grin.</p><p>
They each had a go at me. They suppressed most of their strength, but their attacks still hurt. My blood splattered across the glass as bruises formed one by one. When I’m no longer able to stand up, the one in the middle lifts me by my arm. Slowly, as his grip begins to break my wrist, “It is because of you The Commander is dead and it is because of you, you bear this pain.”</p><p>
Bone beginning to snap, I hear someone banging on the window sitting high above me. My eyes move towards it. I see Ashley throwing her fists at it. All I can think of is I deserved this, but she didn’t deserve to witness this. I wished she didn’t have to see this.</p><p>
Snap.</p><p>
It finally broke. Still, he held onto me. One of them digs his hoof into the floor. Then, he runs forward with his horns directly pointed at me. I close my eyes, hoping it’s painless.</p><p>
To my surprise, he lets go of me. My back hits the floor. I witness a familiar Tauvox grabbing the one that was about to stab me. He pulls at his arms until they pop out of their sockets. When they do, his horns go right through his chest.</p><p>
“What are you idiots doing? Get him.” All of them, but their leader dash towards him. One by one they’re slaughtered and once it’s just the leader my supposed savior wastes no time in brutality ending his life as well even when he begged for mercy.</p><p>
Bent down and hand placed in front of me, I flinch because of our shared, but short history. He was the Tauvox that greeted me after I woke up from his late commander’s cruelty. Well, it wasn’t really a welcomed one. “What are you doing,” I demanded.</p><p>
“Did I not just save your life?</p><p>
“And why did you?”</p><p>
“I know the last time we saw each other it was rough.”</p><p>
“Rough,” I scoffed.</p><p>
“We both don’t have time for this and you know it.” I still hesitate to take it. “Look, I understand you don’t trust me, but you’re going to have to. If I wanted you to die I would’ve let them continue and if I wanted to do it myself I would’ve done so already.”</p><p>
I don’t take his hand, but I get myself up. I watch one of the Tauvoxes slam his knee into the helmet of another Tauvox. It shatters and scatters across his face. As he gasps for air and bleeds out, my eyes catch Syco making his way towards them. Before I’m able to blink the one that just claimed victory has now fallen to the ground. Syco didn’t kill him, but because of how he’s able to move so fast leaves me both surprised and scared.</p><p>
“Syco can’t be the next commander.”</p><p>
Turning back to the brute, “And you can’t be the next one either.”</p><p>
“If you couldn’t handle yourself back there then you have no chance of stopping me, but that should be for later. For now, Syco is our shared enemy.”</p><p>
“As much as I’d rather keep my homeworld intact, you expect me to work with you?”</p><p>
“You’re able to see as much as I am. Syco will get the title at this rate because these idiots keep focusing on their petty, personal fights.”</p><p>
“And you actually think I’d be of any help after what you just said? Even with your help, I’ll just slow you down.”</p><p>
He slams his hoof into one of the Tauvoxes he killed. As he holds their body down, he snaps off one of their horns. He then hands it to me. “That may be so, but we’re each other’s best option. You’re not as stupid as the others. You, a human, had gotten the upper hand on me not too long ago. If you care about your homeworld then you’d not only trust in me but in yourself as well.”</p><p>
My thumb brushes against the horn. As messed up as it is, this isn’t about Earth. I’m not standing here and risking my life for the millions of people down below. At least, not entirely. On the horn, I see flashbacks of their sacrifices. They risked their lives too many times for me, so I can’t let those actions go in vain. I especially can’t let her death go in vain. Even if this fails I won’t give up so easily. I can’t. The brute is at least right about one thing. I let them do the fighting for me because I didn’t believe I was a fighter. That I wasn’t enough. It was because of me Mikrovos didn’t die from this brute or that giant, humanlike beetle. Two species that were much bigger and stronger than me, yet I fought against my insecurities. I did it because I am and always have been a fighter. I did it because I am enough. Besides, I’m tired of getting my wife to cry. I made a promise to her, after all, and I’m going to keep it. When I lift my head, I look at Syco. My grip tightens.</p><p>
“Please, do not make the same mistake Mikrovos did.”</p><p>
“I don’t plan to.”</p><p>
The brute became my shield. He either killed, knocked out, or threw anyone that came in our way. I let him focus on getting us to Syco as I focused on not tripping on any of the bodies that laid on the floor. When we’re finally in front of Syco, the brute wastes no time in attacking him head-on, which Syco gets a kick out of both emotionally and literally. Their hands collide and fight for dominance, but it doesn’t last long because Syco smashes his knee into the brute’s helmet. This causes him to stumble back, but not for long. He dodges Syco’s next attack, but he isn’t so lucky with the next one after. Because of this, he falls on his footing. This allows Syco to lift him, but the brute isn’t going to let Syco take the upper hand so easily. He tries fighting free.</p><p>
“Khavas, it surprises me that you’d be so direct.”</p><p>
“I’ll never let you take command.”</p><p>
“Oh? You think that just because you’re now able to take on some of the upper classes that you now can take me down.”</p><p>
“Not exactly.”</p><p>
Syco doesn’t get the time to understand what Khavas meant because I pierced the horn into his back and through his chest, causing Khavas to fall to the ground. As he’s hunched over as his blood spills, Khavas gets up and begins laughing. He mocks him and kicks him. He goes for a second round, but Syco grabs his leg and throws him.</p><p>
As Khavas tries to get up, Syco pulls the horn out of his chest and throws it at him. It stabs Khavas, nearly puncturing his heart. Still, it knocks him out nonetheless.</p><p>
Because of the short-lived fight between the two Tauvoxes but more importantly my part in it, he then turns his attention to me. “Ah, human, I was wondering whether we’d face one another again or if someone else would take that opportunity away from me. I am fortunate that the latter didn’t come true.”</p><p>
Blood is still around his chest, but no longer was it open. No longer was he wounded. “W-What are you?”</p><p>
“I’m a Tauvox.”</p><p>
“No, you’re not. Tauvoxes can’t do that. They can’t just heal from something that should’ve killed them. That horn went right through your heart.”</p><p>
“You’re right. They can’t and that horn certainly should’ve killed me. I know many questions are now circling your head, human. In due time you will get the answers you are looking for but until then…” His fist collided with my chest, hitting the bruises, and knocking me out instantly.</p><p>
Outer space is infinite. It’s dark. It’s cold. I see my fingers twitch. Slowly, I’m able to regain control of my hand. I watch it close and open. When I’m able to move the rest of my body, I look up. There’s nothing there. There’s nothing anywhere. It’s just me and it’s only going to be me for a while. No, for eternity. Because of that, I cry as I hug myself. As I drift further nowhere, I let myself sink into the thoughts deep in my mind. I let the bad thoughts reign because even though they were cold before they’re the only thing keeping me warm.</p><p>
“Hey. Wake up.”</p><p>
Jumping awake, I see a familiar set of straight lines past the random Tauvox. I see bars. I then rest my hands onto the cold, familiar floor. Seeing if I’m still stuck in my nightmare, I pinch myself. It hurts, which means this isn’t a lie. This isn’t a figment of my imagination. Being so, I panic when he grabs a hold of my arm.</p><p>
I look around to see if I can spot Ashley, Mikrovos, or at least Skeema.</p><p>
He ignores my pleas. He ignores my thrashing as well. It felt like forever, but he eventually lets me go and throws me into a familiar dark room. “Thank goodness, human, I was worried you’d miss it.”</p><p>
“Whatever you’re talking about I don’t care. Where are my friends?”</p><p>
“Now. Now. I have told you once already all in due time you will get your answers.”</p><p>
“If you did something to any of them I swear I’m going to make you pay.”</p><p>
“You may be a human, but I know you won’t do anything to me. If you were actually going to you would’ve done it already. However, there’s no need to get so worked up. Mikrovos and the rest of your friends are perfectly fine. Now just enjoy the show because you’re about to become the first and last human to witness this.” He then snaps his fingers.</p><p>
The room brightens as the windows’ coverings slide down. Earth’s blue and green colors shine on me, but as quickly as it lights up the dark atmosphere it vanishes with another snap of his fingers.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Heart crushed in on itself. Breath hitched. Eyes widen. Hands sweaty. “You-Earth. It’s gone.”</p><p>
As I’m on my knees, shocked, he lowers himself. He then rests his hand on my shoulder. In the corner of my eye, I see him smile. “Isn’t it amazing what technology can do?”</p><p>
Turning, I grip his collar. “What did you do?”</p><p>
My aggressive state did little to nothing to wipe that dreadful smile off his face.  “Humans have become very forgetful. We are Space Pirates. If we want it we take it. Besides, it’s for the best.” He brushes me off and gets up. As the room returns to its dark state, he turns around and waves me off. “Now you should be getting on your way,” he continued.</p><p>
“It’s for the best? Millions of lives were on that planet. That was my home!”</p><p>
Still turned away from me, he shakes his head. “Humans really do have feeble minds,” he folds his arms across his back, “All you need to know for right now is that I’m about to change the universe for the better.”</p><p>
Rolling up my sleeve, “I’ll show you who’s changing the universe for the better.” I lunge towards him, but I’m stopped midway through because someone yanks me by my still broken wrist. I grunt and let out a shout when they slam me onto the floor.</p><p>
Struggling to get up, I realize Khavas is the one that interrupted me. I was about to call him a hypocrite for saving Syco, but the look in his eyes told me I shouldn’t judge because there’s nothing in them. His eyes are empty, dead.</p><p>
He stomps towards me as he huffs. I crawl backward, trying to get away from him, but my back hits a wall. I’m panicking. He raises his fist. Before swinging at me, “I’ll finally prove to Mikrovos letting me live was his greatest mistake.”</p><p>
“K-Khavas, please.”</p><p>
Begging does nothing, so I cover my face. To my surprise, he doesn’t go through with it. “That’s enough, Khavas,” Syco ordered. Like a dog, his ears perked.  He stepped back as Syco walked towards me. Once he’s in front of me he tells Khavas to leave. Khavas bows before complying with his orders for a second time. “Your friends are waiting for you outside. So, I advise you to not make me regret my mercy, human.”</p><p>
I get up hesitantly. I walk towards the door. I didn’t hear him follow me, but it felt like he did.</p><p>
Just like he said Mikorvos, Ashley, and Skeema, were waiting for me on the other side. Guards are watching them and now me, but they’re at least unharmed. Thankful, I hug both Ashley and Mikrovos. They hug back as well. Mikrovos hugs tightly, but of course not enough to crush anything and as for Ashley she gently brushes her fingers through my hair. Even though Saamuki isn’t here to join us at this moment my heart still flutters as my eyes water.</p><p>
Pushing us away, “As thankful as I am that you’re here with us again, we need to get going.”</p><p>
“Yeah, you’re right, Mikrovos. We need to get Saamuki back.”</p><p>
“Skeema, you vile rat, why the hell are you here?” Turning towards the voice, we all stand in shock to find a group of people similar to the man in question. They’re human as well. Well, they’re sort of human as well.</p><p>
Turning to Skeema for his response, “And who exactly are you?”</p><p>
“Ah, and here I thought we had something to worry about. The effects are still taking place.”</p><p>
“Effects? What do you mean by that?”</p><p>
“Oh, Skeema you no longer have a place to expect answers you don’t deserve.” He pushes past him and heads towards the door, but Skeema grabs his hand.</p><p>
“Answer. Who are you? Why do you look familiar?”</p><p>
Yanking himself free, “How dare you lay your hand on me?” While this guy’s introduction hinted that he’s a foe it becomes fact when he raises his hand and swings. Skeema uses his hand to block it, but his opponent sends a counterattack. Another fist is thrown at him, which Skeema tries blocking as well. However, in less than a second, the fist is transformed into a blade. It slices through his hand and cuts across his face. Letting go as he stumbles back, we try to join in. The handful of others who are with this guy point their blades at us, forcing us to remain where we are.</p><p>
Both of his hands are now blades. He swings, and Skeema dodges them. However, it becomes clear he isn’t as fit as his opponent. With each swing Skeema’s movements slow. His breathing becomes heavy. His fur moistens from all his sweating. The sight has his opponent laugh. “Many months ago you were a proud Virmus, but now you’re a pitiful rat.”</p><p>
With that, he’s able to punch Skeema right across his face with his newly reformed fist. Even as Skeema tries to regain his footing, as he’s helpless, the other Virmus sends several more punches right across his face. Then, after Skeema lets out a plea for him to stop, he sends even more. His nose and his mouth are treated to the spilling of his blood because of it.</p><p>
“That’s enough,” Mikrovos ordered.</p><p>
The rain of punches ended. Skeema falls to the floor. “You’re not the Tauvox I’m interested in, but seeing that you’re interested in keeping this rat alive then I’ll do as you asked.” They lowered their weapons and made just enough room for us to go to Skeema. Mikrovos lifts him and asks him if he’s alright. “Just make sure Skeema and I don’t cross paths ever again,” the guy continued.</p><p>
He heads inside. His guards block the doors. “I’ll be fine,” he coughs, “I offered myself to you three for two purposes. I have yet to fulfill the second.”</p><p>
Again, we’re escorted. Mikrovos carries the wounded Skeema back to the spaceship. Once we’re inside he sets him down, but instead of taking a rest, he forces himself towards one of the spaceship’s windows. As we fly out, as we head towards Saamuki, we all catch a glimpse of another spaceship on top of the Tauvox’s.</p><p>
“That must be the Virmus’ ship,” I pointed out.</p><p>
“Wait. That ship. That’s the same ship that was tracking us for months,” Mikrovos added. He then turned to Skeema, wanting answers.</p><p>
Placing his newly reformed hand on the window and wiping his blood off, “Much of my memories have been lost to time, or at least that’s what I concluded until today. While I don’t have my memories my mind is still intact. That man from earlier must be the reason I have forgotten so much, but the reason he did so brings me fear because I have a grave feeling it’s connected to why he stepped into that room.”</p><p>
The infamous spaceship grows smaller and smaller with each second. Even with all the terrible memories, it’ll always have a place in my heart because it allowed me to see Earth for the last time.</p><p>
Speaking of such, “Hey. Where’s Earth?”</p><p>
Turning to Ashley, I open my mouth to explain. However, I closed it soon after. My throat tightens, but because of my reluctance, her eyes grow wide. Without any words coming out of my mouth she’s able to figure out what happened, or at least get the basic gist of it.</p><p>
It’s dark. Stars flicked above. Not too long ago I wanted to be able to reach them. I envied them. Now I feel disgusted. I feel fear towards them. With everything that’s happened, I understand my people’s reluctance to cross the boundary that is the stratosphere. Sure, Skeema said it was because of our bloodlust, but I don’t think that’s the full story. We lied because we didn’t want to hear the painful truth. That we were scared. We were scared to find out what’s out there, scared to see beings greater than us. We fought each other to prove that we were strong. That we were good enough and because of that, we didn’t need to see what’s out there. However, we passed the boundary because we realized our lies. To silence our conscience, we did what Skeema’s people did centuries prior. I now not only know why but understand the cause of their reluctance. I’m filled with fear as I realize how truly powerless I am.</p><p>
We stood on top of a hill. In front of us is the hotel. Just like how Skeema had warned us earlier guards surrounded the place. Mikrovos is leaning against a boulder. His claws tap the giant rock. “There has to be another way to get underground.”</p><p>
Skeema, who’s bruised but is at least now able to stand up without struggling offers, “If I hack into their database then I’ll be able to find the building’s schematics.”</p><p>
“And how exactly are you going to do that when we’re this far away?”</p><p>
“A long time ago I had given up my organic brain for an inorganic brain. From here I can transfer my mind into their computers.”</p><p>
“Oh. Well, then you should get right to it.”</p><p>
“I did as you were questioning me. Their systems have very poor firewalls. There’s a hidden door within their sewage system.”</p><p>
“Then, let’s go.”</p><p>
Mikrovos carried all of us as to not get our shoes wet, but as thankful as I am the sounds his hoofs made as they trekked across the thick, green, and murky liquid made me sick. The smell worsened that feeling as it consistently reminded me of what he was walking into. Luckily, it didn't last long enough for me to puke because we found the door within a few minutes. It looked like the rest of the brick wall at first glance, but upon a second, someone had carved a rectangular shape into it. He pushed it. It’s heavy, causing both his body and everything around us to shake, but he’s eventually able to move it.</p><p>
Stairs stare at us. He sets us down on them. Then, he once again takes the lead and looks around the corner. No one in sight, he motions us to follow. We do.</p><p>
The hallway is long and dimly lit. Torches burned above us. It’s not only giving us light but warmth as well, yet I still shivered. Ashley notices, but something tells her not to do anything about it. We haven’t spoken to each other ever since she figured out what happened to Earth. So, I don’t blame her for her lack of words or just anything in general.</p><p>
We come across two paths. “Where to,” Mikrovos asked Skeema.</p><p>
“Right.”</p><p>
It was a short walk, one that brought us to a ladder. Mikrovos was about to step towards it, but with the appearance of Cabelo and Saamuki from the left side of the hallway he pauses.  Seeing his arm around her, both Mikrovos and Skeema grew enraged. While Skeema only showed his emotions through his facial expression Mikrovos wanted to show his through actions. He was about to ambush Cabelo, but I grabbed his hand before he could. When he turned around to me, wondering why I stopped him, I reminded him that Cabelo doesn’t see Saamuki as we see her. With the way we’ve seen him treat her, he’d probably hurt her as a way to bribe us to leave. So, we watch Saamuki climb up the ladder. Luckily, Cabelo doesn’t follow. We do though.</p><p>
We make sure to keep our distance from her as not to attract any of the guards lurking around. When she gets in her room, we wait until the coast is clear for us to enter as well. When we do, we don’t get the reaction we expected out of her. Interrupting her midway through changing, she looks at us in fear. “What are you guys doing here and Skeema, is that you?”</p><p>
“A lot has gone on while you were away, but we’re here to rescue you.”</p><p>
“Oh, Mikrovos.” She grabs both of his hands and looks into his eyes. “I know you must’ve gone through a lot to get to me, but I’m sorry, Mikrovos, I’m not going with you.”</p><p>
His grip on her tightens, but it’s of course not enough to hurt her. “What? Saamuki, why?” His voice cracked.</p><p>
She goes on her tiptoes and places a kiss on his cheek. “You’ll always have a place in my heart, Mikrovos.” Letting him go, Mikrovos tries holding back his tears. He’s the first to exit the room. Ashley and Skeema look at her before leaving as well. I leave the room after, but before I do she asks me, “Please, take care of him for me.”</p><p>
“Of course and you take care of yourself too.”</p><p>
She hesitates but eventually replies, “Of course.”</p><p>
On the ship, we distanced ourselves from one another. Mikrovos stood where Saamuki always sat, in front of the AI. Both Ashley and Skeema sat down. As for me, I leaned against the window and watched the planet Saamuki’s on getting smaller and smaller. I said I wanted this to just be me, but this isn’t what I meant.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Having lost Earth, an unnamed Space Explorer is haunted by a mysterious, black figure as she begins to drift away from those closest to her.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Chapters 16-20 are part 4</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Placing my hand on the glass, I look into my reflection. I note how old I am. In a few years, I’m going to be thirty, yet I still feel like a child. Yet I still act like a child. In my reflection’s eyes, I see my youth. I see how little I’ve grown. Then, when my eyes meet with my hand, they grow wide. It’s not in pain. More specifically, my wrist isn’t broken anymore. As I turn my attention towards my chest and lift it just enough to see where the bruises are supposed to be, I see that they’re gone too.</p><p>
“I did warn you all that your unexpected arrival wouldn’t play out as hoped. Did I not,” the AI scolded us.</p><p>
“And I did warn you that if you forewarned Cabelo of our arrival that I would shut you down permanently,” Skeema rebutted with a smirk.</p><p>
“Yes, I made note of that. However, that would lead you to another problem, which would be learning how to steer this ship before getting captured by Cabelo’s guards. You think you have outsmarted me because that’s how you cope with miscalculations. You fear that you’re not as clever as that ego of yours taught you to believe because that’s all you have left.”</p><p>
Skeema raised his newly morphed blade towards the AI. “I dare you to repeat that.”</p><p>
Before the scene that’s grey can turn into something that’s black and blue and maybe red Ashely cuts and tapes it with a new scene, “Look, we all are on edge after what happened. I can sympathize with how you feel, Skeema, and even you, AI, I can see where you’re coming from, but fighting each other won’t help. Your problems won’t grow any smaller by continuing this, so please don’t make them any bigger.”</p><p>
Like always she’s the sensible one. Like always she’s not like me. Like always she’s not me.</p><p>
Lowering down his weapon and turning it back into a hand, “She is right.”</p><p>
“It is true my programming keeps me loyal to Cabelo. However, that doesn’t mean I’m not loyal to Saamuki either. I know Saamuki wouldn’t want anyone here to get hurt, which is why I kept my word in being silent.”</p><p>
With Saamuki’s name being said, Mikrovos’ head lowered. I know his heart dropped. I know it must’ve hurt hearing her name, but he remained still and kept quiet.</p><p>
I’m not blaming him for it. Why would I? Why would I blame him for something that’s my fault? I got captured. I got them looking for me far too long, causing Saamuki’s relationship with her boss to turn into that, into a match that’s been bathing in flames for far too long. It’s split. It’s burned. It’s forever ruined. So, it’s because of me his heart meets the same faith. It’s forever broken. As I make myself smaller, as I think about it, I can feel a chill run up my spine.</p><p>
Continuing to be someone I should be, “Is there a planet near here with edible food and of course one with breathable air?”</p><p>
“Considering the lack of currency you all share, there is. It’s about a quadrant away from here. However, most of the planet is dangerous for non-native life. Much of the planet is covered in boiling, hot water.”</p><p>
“As long as there’s enough land to keep us from coming into contact with it…”</p><p>
Her voice trailed off as my ears focused on a familiar voice. It mumbled. In the corner of my eye, I turn to see a black shadow appearing on the glass. Turning around to meet it, I see it slowly creeping out of the glass, inching towards me. I jump once its hand touches my own, causing everyone to turn their attention towards me. With their eyes on me, I laugh it off as I note how it’s gone. Before or maybe in another timeline where none of it occurred, I would’ve gotten asked what happened, but now, this timeline with splotches of black paint staining it, they go back to talking and ignore me. Ashley is the first one to turn away. It hurt a bit. No, it hurt quite a lot, but I shake it off and with that, I see it’s gone. I probably imagined that awful sight, but the cold feeling that came with it still lingers. It’s like it’s still there. It’s like it was real.</p><p>
It’s the largest landmass. We’re about half a mile away, which means we need to trek across a long strip of land, a bridge where on either side of it rests the infamous water, but at least we’re in front of a little town. Well, it’s on top of the highest mountain on the planet. If I squint hard enough, past the wall of steam, I can make a long, windy staircase circling the landform. There’s plenty of walking ahead and the heat emanating from the body of water before all of us isn’t helping. I can feel myself sweat in too many places. That desert planet Mikrovos and I were on was at least several degrees cooler than this.</p><p>
“I guess it’s my turn again.” Mikrovos motions us to him.</p><p>
“And risk you having all of us drop into that water? Mikorvos, you’ve helped more than enough already. You’re worn out enough as it is. Besides, the path over there could fit two of us walking side by side.”</p><p>
She takes the lead, showing him she and the rest of us are perfectly fine using our own feet to walk. Mikrovos, seeing she’s too far to be worth arguing with, goes next. Skeema comes third. I’m last.</p><p>
Because of the steam, the water is a deep shade of white. I watch a bubble rise from its surface and pop. It’s small, but it’s one out of the thousands of bubbles spread throughout the water’s surface. Each pop as quickly as they rose. Although, it’s much quieter and actually calming than one would expect. So, since my attention is focused on them, I’m caught off guard by the rising black mass making its way from underneath my nose. I didn’t make the connection that it’s the same dark figure I imagined not too long ago, so I get out my gun and shoot.</p><p>
The blast causes water to splash towards me. I try to move away, but I’m not fast enough. Luckily, Skeema is. Blocking it from touching me, causes pieces of his arm to melt away. He’s able to reform it without much effort, but it doesn’t help me from feeling bad. Again, I let my emotions get the better of me and because of it, I caused more harm than good.</p><p>
As he asks me what’s wrong, I watch the black figure disappear into the thickening steam around us. I tell him it’s nothing, but of course, he isn’t one to take my obvious lie so easily. He opens his mouth, but with a long, dark figure making its way from under and over us his words are cut abruptly.</p><p>
I hear my heart pound. It’s like a drum. Its rhythm escalates with every step I take closer to Skeema. Its thunderous music sounds tribal. My sweat slithered off my face and splashed onto the dirt. My gun and both his newly made blades are at the ready. In the corner of my eyes, the water is still, quiet once again. Even though Skeema saw it too I still hope that it’s my imagination playing tricks on me again. With the rippling of the water and the beast shooting out from it, I’m taught how meaningless hope is. It’s just a word, so it can’t protect me from what’s happening right in front of me. It can’t save me from the real world and it’s certainly not able to prepare me for what happens next.</p><p>
We split up before it can force us to. Doing so only buys us time. However, what're a few more seconds to the impossible? To us surviving this?</p><p>
Wrapped around our so-called bridge, is the body of a serpent. At the very end is its hissing mouth. At the very least it cleared up the scene of its white tint. At least now Ashley and Mikrovos are visible.</p><p>
If it’s not clear enough already, the beast is far larger than any of us. It’s dark green and at either side of its head are what I can best describe as are fins with a lighter shade of green. Under its nostrils are bright pink barbels. They sway along with its head as it spits at us. As the three are focused on that sight, I’m more focused on a smaller, yet more important one. One of them has the bruise that I caused by my irrational action. “She said she didn’t want to see any of us hurt, but fails to mention the giant serpent lurking in the water!”</p><p>
After Ashley lets out her frustration, she and Mikrovos dodge the thrust of the serpent’s head. I shoot at it, knowing well it wouldn’t do much. Still, on the floor, Ashley shoots at it as well. They barely do anything to the beast but create more small bruises. So, both Mikrovos and Skeema dash and lunge towards the beast. His claws and the latter of the two’s blades cut into its flesh, causing it to bleed. Still, they barely make a mark. So, it easily overpowers them. Mikorvos gets hit and pushed all too close to the water. Thankfully, and because of Skeema’s quick thinking he’s able to hold onto the beast with one of his blades punctured into it and catch Mikrovos with his other arm before he can plunge to his death. Right when he does the beast swings around, wanting to get the two off of it.</p><p>
Ashley goes back to shooting the beast. Knowing her, it’s to make her its focus rather than at the men of our group. So, I break my attention from those two and join in as well. It, of course, comes at a cost because it makes its way towards us. Ashley and I ran back towards the ship. Its fangs nearly slice into us both. With Mikrovos sinking his horns into it he kills it before it can, or at least we thought he did because as soon as the two get off the beast rises back up again.</p><p>
It’s about to grab Ashley with its deadly fangs. It’s about to kill her. She’s about to die and it would’ve been my fault, but something from the other side of this thick steam sends a blinding beam of light that goes right through the serpent’s head. Finally, the beast lays dead in front of us. Although, quickly its decaying stench surrounds us. It’s about as foul as that sewer underneath Cabelo’s hotel.</p><p>
As big of a problem that stench is becoming as I grow nauseous, the question of who made that finishing blow outweighs it. Thankfully, I don’t have to linger on it too long because it’s answered with a figure coming towards us. It’s human-like. It’s about the same height as Mikrovos, a bit shorter. As it walks, it’s footsteps come with thuds. They sound heavy, but they don’t look anywhere close to Mikrovos’ build.</p><p>
Even though they saved us we don’t greet them as nicely as they would’ve hoped. They’re made out of metal. They’re a robot. With how it raises its arms, taking surprise and offense that Mikrovos has his claws inches from their neck, it’s about as advanced as the ship’s AI. Talking in a deep, masculine voice, “Is this how you treat someone that just saved your lives?”</p><p>
“We’ve learned not to trust anyone but each other. Me especially,” Mikrovos responded. He brings his claws closer with that last part.</p><p>
“I don’t mean any of you harm. This might sound harsher than I mean it to be, but if I was out here wanting to hurt any of you I wouldn’t have headed towards you. As you saw, I’m more of a long-ranged type of guy.”</p><p>
It doesn’t take me that long to see it in his eyes. His eyes back up his words, so I move in front of Mikorvos and tell him what I see. He hesitates, but with me begging him to trust me he sighs as he lowers his hand.</p><p>
“Thank you.” He gave me a genuine smile.</p><p>
I smile back. It’s not as sweet as his.</p><p>
Ashley shortens our moment with, “Are there more of you?”</p><p>
“Yes. On top of that mountain up ahead,” he nudges towards it, “is my village.”</p><p>
Bitterly she responds with, “Perfect. Can you lead us there because clearly, if we encounter another one of those serpents you’re the only one capable of handling them?”</p><p>
“Of course. It is in my programming to be of assistance. Oh, my name is S1Y, by the way.”</p><p>
“Ashely.”</p><p>
After S1Y got to know our names, he did as Ashely asked. Besides adding him, our order has changed. This time Skeema and I are walking side by side. Neither of us said anything about the new arrangement, but I just assume it’s because he doesn’t want to repeat what happened. It’s not like I had any reason to not want it. It’s not like I have the right to. Still, even as he walked beside me I felt uneasy.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Chapter 17</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was creaky, especially from S1Y’s footsteps, which didn’t help the uneasiness. It was long, which didn’t help it either. Although, that didn’t surprise me. What does surprise me is the sight we get to see. As the higher we went up the staircase, the less dense the steam became. This not only meant it got cooler but we were able to see the mountain’s dark, muddy color slowly become vibrant. A bright, rich green began to spring up all over the mountain. While the mountain is mostly green it’s not entirely green. Hints of pinks and yellows popped now and again between the luscious green sea. About twenty steps before we hit the village’s entrance a gust of wind slides between us and hits the mountain, causing the grass and flowers to sway, almost dancing, against it.</p><p>
Two trees with fruits the size of my head greeted us. Their roots created an arch and on the other side of it sat S1Y’s village. I’m not sure who’s stomach growled. It could’ve been mine because it sounded close or it could’ve been all of us besides our new robot companion. Whatever the case it gets him to conclude, “So, that is why you all came here. People rarely come to our planet.”</p><p>
“After what we faced, I don’t blame them,” Ashley commented with her arms crossed.</p><p>
Our robot companion transforms his hand into a small blaster and once he does, turns his attention to one of the trees overhead. Taking a knee and squinting one of his eyes, he shoots. It’s one big flash that causes my eyes to become blinded for a split second. It must’ve been what he used to kill off that serpent.</p><p>
Picking them up, between the bits of branches and leaves he accidentally took out as well, he hands them to us. The three of us inspect them quietly. Skeema, however, takes the opposite approach. His nostrils flare as he sniffs it. It’s loud, which breaks our silence and has us look at him. When he takes a small bite, I watch its juices squirt out and land on some of his furs. We continue watching him as he slowly chews until he eventually swallows it down. When he does, he turns to us, “It’s good, if that’s what you three are about to ask.”</p><p>
Mikrovos is the first one to finish, followed by Ashley. The third is Skeema. I’m last, but I’m not quite done. I’m a little more than halfway done. So, I hold it in my hand as our guide shows us around his village, which is just several huts made from dead trees. They’re similar to Skeema’s, but better crafted. Their material differed from each other as it was obvious a single hut was created using different trees, yet their parts fit perfectly with one another. Maybe this is kind of a case of reverse speciesism to stereotype this, but it’s probably because they were created from robots. While S1Y continues to talk about his village and random, spotty memories my mind drifts off into thinking about Khavas. The last time I saw him he didn’t act like the Khavas I knew. Sure, I didn’t know him for long, but I just know that wasn’t him.</p><p>
In the corner of my eye S1Y’s people got out from their huts. They smiled and said their hellos. A handful waved at us. A few got out and played wooden instruments like flutes and drums and began to play. The rest headed towards us and asked questions. The three answered without hesitation. Well, all but Ashley answered them smoothly. Mikrovos and Skeema stumbled over their words, but the latter was distracted by a feminine robot pressing her chest against his arm. I get asked too, but I’m focused on the ghostly figure of Khavas. From between two huts, he looks straight at me but stares blankly. Like he was empty. Like he was dead. The last thing I’m able to hear is S1Y explaining, “Sorry. We just get excited about meeting off-worlders.”</p><p>
Soon everyone but Khavas fades out from my sight. He takes a step towards me. It should’ve taken several but he gets in front of me before I could blink. I dropped my half-eaten fruit. I’m not scared. I know I shouldn’t be because I know this is all in my head, but I still feel something. I feel sympathetic. Maybe I feel empathetic too as we remain looking into each other’s eyes. I don’t know what he sees in mine, but in his, I see a story I have yet to make of. It’s blurry. It’s fast. As strange as it is, I reach out towards his face. I want to hold it. With him huffing a dense, black smoke is blown out of his nostrils. I cover my face and when I lower my arms I see that black figure again. Still and unlike those other times, I don’t feel fear. Instead, curiosity and bits of heartbreak boil within me, causing me to open my mouth. I’m about to ask it, but the emotions overwhelm me. They explode. I stop myself before I get the chance.</p><p>
We’re all sitting on the ground. Ashley is sitting far from me, which hurts. It kind of ticked me off too, but I guess I can’t make her sit with me. I’m just not in the right position. At least Mikrovos is sitting on one side of me and Skeema is sitting on the other. Speaking of Skeema, he’s at least having a way better time than me with that same robot from earlier as they flirt with each other, which of course has to include tons of smiling and laughing.</p><p>
Looking at S1Y, Mikrovos asks, “So, your people were created by the previous civilization that was here?”</p><p>
“Mhm. Unfortunately, they’re long gone.” S1Y and the rest of the villagers, except Skeema’s companion, lower their heads.</p><p>
“I just learned about your planet, but if I knew anything else about this planet, especially about your creators I wouldn’t hesitate to share.”</p><p>
“Thank you.”</p><p>
“It’s nothing compared to all the good you’ve done for us so far. Besides, I think the four of us can agree that this is the most welcomed we’ve felt in a while.”</p><p>
“As thankful as we are about your arrival, you should be thankful you landed on our planet. Things are getting heated out there.”</p><p>
Ashley enters into their conversation, “What do you mean?”</p><p>
“You haven’t heard? Another war has recently started between the Space Pirates. Several planets have already joined in.”</p><p>
“It’s barely been two decades since the first one,” Mikrovos crossed his arms, “I have a feeling this is Syco’s doing.”</p><p>
“Syco? Is he like you? Is he a Tauvox?”</p><p>
He hesitates for a moment. “Yeah. He is my-No. He was my superior. He’s the new commander of the Tauvox Space Pirates.”</p><p>
“Then, yes, I think he’s the one that started it. Well, he and a Virmus. At first, we were confused and some of us were scared why a Tauvox and Virmus came here with two humans.”</p><p>
“Neither of us are Space Pirates anymore, especially in those factions.”</p><p>
“That’s good to hear. I heard being a Space Pirate is a tough and dangerous business practice.”</p><p>
Mikorovos looks at Skeema, wanting him to pitch in his experience, but because he’s busy flirting Mikorovos speaks for the both of them. “Yeah, it was,” he looks away from the robot and has his eyes drifting towards one of the trees between a few huts, “But, Syco, what does he think he’s doing? The first war is what killed our planet. Hundreds of other homeworlds died. Now he wants to add to those numbers?”</p><p>
I look at him. “Wait. I thought it was because of a civil war.”</p><p>
“Yes, but there’s a bit more to it than that. The civil war started because the leaders of our planet were divided on whether to help the Space Pirates in our solar system or not. They continuously aided us by helping us export off-world and bring us imports from other worlds, helping us trade. However, helping them would mean a large portion of our population, too many I have to add, would join in a war that wasn’t our fight. It started with Space Pirates and it ended with Space Pirates, but now it’s starting again with Space Pirates.”</p><p>
“Wait. Two decades ago? Was that the reason Earth was getting invaded? The first time I mean.”</p><p>
“By that point, the war was almost over. I might be wrong, but I think they invaded Earth because they needed a new homeworld. Earth must’ve been the closest, habitable planet with life forms that wouldn’t pick much of a fight. Good for them because their resources must’ve been low. Bad for you for obvious reasons. Most of their records were destroyed along with their ship, so don’t make this assumption as fact.”</p><p>
I imagine myself as a child in the middle of a field of crops. Everything is on fire. She screams. My mother, or at least I think that’s her, calls out to me. She begs for me to help her. I don’t know where she is. I can’t see her, but she sounds close. It’s like she’s in front of me. Because of this, I step back and cover my mouth as I cry. It’s all I can do, or at least that’s all I think I can do. I shut my eyes. When I reopen them, I’m back on the ship. Still crying, I watch Earth grow smaller and smaller, but I still hear her. I’m still haunted by her.</p><p>
“We can’t just let them do this again. I can’t just sit here and let them do what caused the deaths of millions of humans. I have to do something.”</p><p>
“Like what,” Ashley questioned. The look on my face has her to explain, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for that to come out that way, but there’s nothing we can do about it. I don’t like this as much as you, but this isn’t some fictional book where one of us can wave our hand and magically stop it. This is real life and we’re only human. Well, two of us are, but it’s not like anyone else here can do that much better. Look, I lost you once and I almost lost you again. I’m not going to let you get into any more danger, especially not when Syco is involved.”</p><p>
“Oh, so now you care about me?” It slipped out. I regretted it as soon as it came out of my mouth, but I just had to get it out.</p><p>
“What are you talking about? I constantly worry about and care for you.”</p><p>
“Are you sure because recently it doesn’t feel that way? You haven’t looked or talked to me and have kept your distance since Syco took Earth until now.” My heart raced because of my rising anger.</p><p>
It’s like someone else took over. I’ve been wanting to say these things, yes, but I don’t want to say them like this, especially not in front of everyone. Mikrovos and Skeema know this because of the way they look at me. They know this isn’t me. So, Mikrovos tries calming me down by motioning me to stop.</p><p>
“It’s because there’s been a lot going on. We lost Earth and now Saamuki.”</p><p>
“Saamuki? Why do you care about Saamuki?”</p><p>
“Why do I care about Saamuki? Saamuki is my friend. She’s also someone that Mikrovos, my other friend, really cares about.” Ashley is getting angry too. S1Y catches this, the stuffy atmosphere created because of the tension between us, so he tries laughing this off. He tries to change the subject, but I cut him off.</p><p>
“No, this has never been about Saamuki or Mikorovos. This isn’t even about Earth. This is about me.”</p><p>
“You? Why would it-”</p><p>
“You’re mad at me aren’t you? You’re mad that it’s because of me our planet is gone. You’re mad that it’s because of me I took away the only home you’ve ever known. No, it’s all because of me you’re even in this mess.”</p><p>
“I was never mad at you about that, but I am about this. When are you ever going to stop making things about yourself? When are you ever going to grow up?”</p><p>
With that, we all became silent. The look on her face, as angry as she is, shows that she regrets what she said. So, she tries to apologize, but I cut her off again, “No, you’re right. When am I ever going to grow up?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Chapter 18</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I’m crying. Everyone became smudges, blurred colors. So, I’m not completely blinded from my tears. Not physically I mean. Emotionally it blinds me because seeing Ashley take a step towards me has me turn around and runoff. They call out to me and I hear someone following me, but they stop midway through me fleeing.</p><p>
Alone, and as downright stupid as it is, I sit on a deformed tree’s twisted branch, which stretched a little beyond the mountain’s edge. A long plunge into an excruciating death awaited me down below, on the other side of the white wall of hot gas, if my much-deserved karma finally came by having this branch snap because of my weight. So, I should be panicked. I should still be crying, but I’m doing neither of those. Instead, I’m content.</p><p>
On the very tip of the branch is a small, blooming Lily with a glowing center. Another gust of wind picked up. It hits the flower and carries it to me. I grabbed it before the wind disappeared. It’s a much more gentle heat than the water down below, as I clasped the flower between my hands, giving me warmth. Because of that, I can’t help but smile.</p><p>
That same dark figure takes a seat next to me. Raising my head, I see our faces are inches from one another. We look into each other for what feels like forever until I ask, “Who are you?”</p><p>
Upon hearing my question, they move away. Faces apart, but still looking at me, they mumble something.</p><p>
“I can’t understand you.”</p><p>
They stop. A long pause sat between us until they morphed into Khavas once again. Along with mimicking his physicality it also copied his voice, “You.”</p><p>
“Me?”</p><p>
The figure repeated it, but this time as that woman with a pair of shades. The figure didn’t stay as her for long because it quickly morphs into Mikrovos and repeats the same thing. As quickly as it transformed into him, it transformed into Saamuki and said it yet again. I’m about to ask what it means, but it rapidly changes into several other people like the guard’s commander as it continuously repeats it with their voices. With each new person, their voice became louder. This causes my ears to ring and heart rate to escalate, which has me beg for it to stop. It does so, but it makes its final transformation as Ashely. “You,” it told me in her voice.</p><p>
My heart skipped a beat hearing her say that. Yes, I know that’s not her, but with what happened earlier, that hurt me more than it should have. I then lean towards her, wanting to touch her.</p><p>
Crack.</p><p>
I scream and close my eyes. I told myself this was finally it. That this was the universe finally getting me back. Still talking to myself, I tell Ashely that I’m sorry not because I want to be saved but because it was my fault we ended on a bad note. Taking too long to be boiled alive, I open my eyes to see a cold, metal hand holding onto my wrist.</p><p>
“This might hurt a little,” S1Y warned right before throwing me back onto the mountain. I felt a jolt of pain from my back as I slid a little far off from him. Compared to other things I’ve had to endure this is nothing, but it still causes my teeth to grit as I try to bury my grunts down.</p><p>
He places a hand in front of me and helps me back up. “I’m sorry about that. There wasn’t any other possible way to successfully save you,” he explained.</p><p>
“It’s fine.”</p><p>
“Are you? Oh, here, let me get that for you.” He takes the flower out of my hand and places it behind my ear. “There.”</p><p>
“Thanks and I’m fine. Really.”</p><p>
I’m not as fine in terms of my now aching back. Still, it’s manageable.</p><p>
“Are you sure? Back there you didn’t seem so fine.” I look away from him, causing him to wave his hands in embarrassment. “It’s completely fine if you don’t want to talk about it, especially with me. I just want you to talk it out.”</p><p>
It’s probably because I felt bad for making him feel bad or because I don’t think I have anyone else to talk to. It could be because I have a better time talking to people I barely met than people I’ve known for a long time, or I see those same eyes from the first time we met, but I admit this anyways, “Actually, no.” I sighed.</p><p>
“You don’t need to get too into the reason why you and Ashley fought. It sounded very personal, but you exploded out of nowhere in front of everyone.”</p><p>
“It’s just that a lot has happened and they’re all my fault.”</p><p>
“What do you mean?”</p><p>
“I mean everything that’s happened is because of me. Our homeworld is gone because of me. Syco is starting another intergalactic war because of me. There’s more to it than that, but that’s the basic gist. Now it’s because of me I almost caused my own death by imagining a mysterious figure.”</p><p>
“Well, I’m sure none of that was entirely your fault. I think you need to give yourself some credit rather than discrediting yourself because your friends seem to be nice, but not naïve people. If you really caused all those bad things I don’t think your friends would be friends with you.”</p><p>
“Okay, well, it’s like I said. It’s much more complicated than that. All of that first part is easier said than done. Even if I do give myself some credit I’m pretty sure none of those don’t outweigh the bad I’ve caused.”</p><p>
“Now I’m not entirely sure because of how short we’ve known each other, but I think you’re making it much more complicated than it really is. Let’s go back to the mysterious figure part.”</p><p>
“What about it?”</p><p>
“When did you start seeing it?”</p><p>
“About two days ago. It was on Skeema’s planet.”</p><p>
“Do you know anything else about it?”</p><p>
“Just a moment ago, before the whole falling thing, it said it was me.”</p><p>
“Then, it must be a representation of you. Based on what you said back there, it’s a manifestation of your self-hatred. So, and as I just said, until you can accept your wrongs by seeing they’re not as bad as you think they are you’ll stop seeing it.”</p><p>
“That’s easy to just say, especially coming from you. How am I going to do that? Where exactly do I start? Do I just accept them all at once?”</p><p>
“You’re going to find those out for yourself, which I’m sure you can do.”</p><p>
My eyes widen.</p><p>
“I’m not saying this because I’m accepting everything you said, but I really appreciate that sentiment.”</p><p>
“It’s in my programming to assist, after all.” He gives me that genuine smile once again, causing me to smile at him. Unlike the last time this time, I’m able to give him a real smile back. Our moment is short-lived, however, because a familiar beam of light shoots straight into his right arm. Because of this, his arm is ripped out of his socket and pushed off the mountain, and with it, sparks of electricity replace it. Turning to who did it, to his surprise, but not to mine, Ashley stands a couple of feet away from us with her gun still aimed at him. “Ashely, what are you doing?”</p><p>
The look in Ashely’s eyes is as dead as Khavas’. That must be the uneasy feeling I’ve been feeling. So, I tell him, “That’s not Ashley. Move!” I push him out of the way before her next shot can hit him. Even as we’re on the floor and with me on top of him she continues to shoot. We dodge each attack, but once S1Y can get out his weapon he aims it at her. Right when he shoots I push it away from her. It misses her by an inch but takes away a few strands of her hair with it. Looking at me I continue, “That’s not Ashley, but that’s still her body.”</p><p>
“I’m not following.”</p><p>
“It’s a long story, but you can’t shoot her.”</p><p>
“But she’s trying to kill the both of us. I’m sorry, but unless you want to die I have to kill her first.”</p><p>
She pulls the trigger. I don’t think fast enough. I’m not as fast as Skeema and not as durable as Mikrovos, so the blast slices into my skin. Arm bleeding, but thankfully not my dominant arm, I pull out my gun and aim. I know that’s not her. I know whatever is controlling her wants us both dead. It doesn’t care about either of us, but they have the face of the woman I love. So, my hand becomes shaky. I weep my sorrow to her, but she remains empty. Without remorse, she shoots. I follow after. My chest was hit, but before I fell I was able to hit her. Again, she’s unable to use her gun as her arm is now damaged for the second time.</p><p>
We both grunt as we press against our wounds. While she’s unable to use her weapon she’s still able to walk unlike me who’s barely able to remain standing. Thankfully, she hasn’t killed my companion, so he helps me up. To my shock, even after I begged him not to, he aimed his makeshift blaster at her and fired. I shout for him to stop, but it’s too late. I quietly cry as I watch it, in seemingly slow-motion, fly towards her. However, she dodges and it instead goes straight through one of the villagers whose hand has also been changed into a blaster. His blaster shoots off into the sky as he falls backward.</p><p>
Looking at S1Y, has him to clarify, “I get what you mean now. That wasn’t one of my own.” Dashing towards us, and as painful as it is both emotionally and physically, I’m left to uppercut Ashely. It knocks her out cold. We take a moment to come to terms with what we’ve done before he continues with, “Whatever is affecting your friend there is affecting my people as well. We have to get out of here now before more of-”</p><p>
Mikrovos is the next one to find us. Like the other two, his eyes are empty. He rampages towards us with his horns directly pointed at us. Before he can hit us S1Y looks at me. I know what he’s about to do, so I nod, but that doesn’t mean I’m not scared out of my mind. He throws me onto his shoulder and runs in the opposite direction. Off the mountain, we go through the thick white wall. We plummet until his feet hit the staircase. When it does, the staircase beneath us cracks. It’s not enough for it to break, but unfortunately, it’s hard enough for his knees to weaken. Because he’s struggling to walk, I get off of him and help him out as he did for me one too many times within the past few minutes. With me holding onto his side to keep him balanced, we barely get twenty steps down.</p><p>
“I know they must hurt, but you have to hurry up.” Pushing me away has me to say, “What’s wrong?”</p><p>
“You have to leave me.”</p><p>
“What? Are you insane? The rest of your people and my friends are up there looking for us. It’s only a matter of time before they find us.”</p><p>
“That’s why you have to leave me. I’m only slowing you down.”</p><p>
“You’re going to die if I leave you here.” Again, my eyes water. “God, why am I crying?” As I cry, I try to laugh it off.</p><p>
Holding my face and wiping away my tears, “I told you already this is in my programming.”</p><p>
“But not you too. I’ve already lost too many people in my life.”</p><p>
“Those three up there. Your friends. The people before this. They care about you and if you care about them then you’d leave me behind.”</p><p>
I hug him tightly and continue my crying into his shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”</p><p>
He rubs my back. “No, I’m sorry.”</p><p>
Pushing me away from him, he holds back two of his people. With me looking at him he turns around and angrily tells me to go already.</p><p>
“Thank you.”</p><p>
He smiles at me for the last time.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Chapter 19</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>By the time I get off the stairs I’m dizzy and my hand, which is covering the wound on my chest, is drenched in blood. So, I’m unable to limp straight as my body screams for me to stop. Still, I force myself to continue onwards until I hear footsteps behind me. Turning around, I see Skeema who’s leaning forwards with his head down. Hesitantly, I take a step back. With that, he swings his head back. Then, he grips the sides of his head and lets out a shriek. I see his eyes water. Again, he lowers his head.</p><p>
“Please, r-run,” he begged under his breath.</p><p>
“Skeema?”</p><p>
Just like the others, he looks at me with that empty expression and points at me. In the blink of an eye more of S1Y’s people jump from behind him and land in front of him. They then dash towards me with their lifeless eyes, forcing me to run. I cried through the pain. The distance I created between us is large, so they started shooting at me as well. I dodge, or at least I try to. A fraction of their blasts hit me, tearing pieces and taking some of my skin and hair with them. Even so, as worn down as they brought me to, I manage to get back on the ship. They bang on its exterior as the AI questions what’s happening. I try to explain through my panting, but I’m too slow. Skeema, just like with the villagers, takes her over as well. Upon looking at me with that infamous look I don’t hesitate to get my gun out and shoot. She shuts down and that holographic screen and Saamuki’s chair from before appears. Of course, I don’t know how to steer the ship. I try to remember what Saamuki did, but their banging only buries the memory down further. Anxious and running out of time, especially as they climb towards the windows, I simply slam my hand on it and fling my hand upwards. It causes the ship to zoom forward, pushing me backward in the process. Alarms going off as the ship is about to hit the mountain, I try to regain my footing and move back towards the control panel. Just a foot away before it’s able to hit I slide my hand on the screen, causing the ship to fly upwards. As it ascends, which causes me to fall on the floor, the air current created from this pushes S1Y’s people off. One by one they either hit the ground and shatter or plunge into the water. In the case of the latter, I watch them be melted alive as they cry for help.</p><p>
Gently placing my hand on the screen, the ship comes to a halt. I fall to the floor. Getting back up, I note how I’m above the planet, thousands of miles away from everyone. So, I begin to cry.</p><p>
The dark figure appears before me. “What do you want?” Rather than words, or at least just one, it just tilts its head. “You’re supposed to be my self-hatred, huh? Well, I don’t care if you are. My friends are gone. I’m all alone now.”</p><p>
Sitting down slumped in Saamuki’s chair with uneven breaths, it bends down to my eye level and places its hand on my shoulder. I try flinging it away, but my blood-stained hand just goes right through it. “No, you’re wrong,” it told me in my voice.</p><p>
Shifting to match my characteristics, but still as a black figure, I move my hand towards it. This time I’m able to touch it. Hand on its cheek, it leans into the affection.</p><p>
Vision fading, I move my hand away and with it, the figure vanishes. “I-I can’t stay here. I can’t die like this, especially if it means letting Syco win. S-Syco did something to them. I can’t let him get away with it.” So, I slide my hand across the screen. The ship then flies towards I don’t know and care where. I just need to be somewhere other than just here. The last thing I see is the planet’s reflection becoming a blur.</p><p>
An unfamiliar source of heat tickles my face. Jolting awake because of it, I’m greeted by a faceless figure. So, I jump back and frantically look them up and down. The figure is tall and lanky. A cubic shape floats above its neck, acting as their head, and a greyish cloak wraps around its body. Clutched in one of their hands is a long, metal staff with a circular shape that’s on fire at its top. Upon my fright, it leans its makeshift torch towards me. I cover my eyes from its blinding light. Noticing this, it moves the staff away from me and grabs my hand that’s covered in my blood. Following up, it inspects my arms. It then lifts my shirt and inspects my chest. “Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. I didn’t give you permission for that.” As I push my shirt back down, it grabs me and lifts me. “Hey. Wait. What are you-”</p><p>
Carrying me out of the ship, they stab their staff into the dirt. It turns into a crown, which is still on fire, and places it above their head. Now with an empty hand, they use it to whistle. Something similar to a horse, as it has a long neck and hooves, appears from the darkness around us. The only difference is, like my kidnapper, it has a shape as its head. Getting on with me still in their arms even as I try to kick them, they tell their horse to go in their language. I watch layers of rock fly past us as they keep me tightly close to their chest. Eventually, we leave the canyon we were in. Upon doing so, my attention turns to the stars, which saddens me.</p><p>
Back against their sleeping horse, I watch my kidnapper bicker with a group of people like them. All of them have the same body type and have the same style of clothing, but each one of them has a different three-dimensional shape as their head. I could just run away rather than wait here, but I’m too concentrated on how my chest has completely healed. There’s supposed to be a hole. I should be dead, or at the very least in pain. My concentration breaks with one of them, who has a triangular head, slapping my kidnapper across the face.</p><p>
Bent down in front of me, they say something in their language. The confused look I gave them has them motion for me to wait just a moment. Getting up, they slide their foot across the dirt between us and mumble a few words in rapid succession. A staff like theirs rises from the dirt. Grabbing it, they tap it. Now like their crown, they place it above my head where thereafter I’m able to understand her, “With that out of the way, why did your ship crash land on our planet, human? Most importantly, what’s with that blood on your hand? Are you alright?”</p><p>
“I-” I hesitated for a moment because I started to wonder how the three of them, specifically Ashley would respond. More specifically, whether she would tell her the truth. Although, it’s not like I had anything else to lose. So, I continue anyway, “I was under attack. I barely escaped, but I think I’m okay.”</p><p>
“I see. Well, then, you can’t stay here.”</p><p>
“What? Why? I don’t have anywhere else to go. I don’t even know where I am.”</p><p>
“You’re in Quadrant Eighty-Five on a little planet called Vecta. So, you should know why you can’t stay here.”</p><p>
“Quadrant Eighty-Five? Wow. That’s thousands of lightyears from-Okay, well, I know I’m not allowed to go past Quadrant Five. I learned that the hard way, but I don’t have anywhere else to go. My planet is gone.”</p><p>
“Your homeworld is-”</p><p>
The very one that slapped her exclaims, “Hurry up and tell that human to leave our planet already!”</p><p>
She sighs. “I hate being the bearer of bad news. I tried talking my people into you staying, but protecting ourselves from the repercussions isn’t something we’re capable of.”</p><p>
“Repercussions? What repercussions?”</p><p>
“You don’t know?”</p><p>
“No?”</p><p>
“Do you at least know why there’s a law on humans and others, excuse me for this, low ranked species have quadrant limits?”</p><p>
“No, I don’t know that either. I mean it never occurred to me to question it. I just assumed it was to protect us.”</p><p>
“Your assumption is technically right. It is to protect your level of species from much more advanced ones like mine, but there’s more to it than that.”</p><p>
Before she can continue the very same one that shouted and hit her comes up from behind and pushes her away from me, causing the horse to wake up and neigh at him. “Human, do us a favor and get off our planet already before we end up like those Space Pirates that tried to conquer your homeworld.”</p><p>
I’m healed, but I’m just tired. I’m tired of having to run. I need some time to rest. Adding on to my annoyance is how he pushed her away like she was nothing. It barely hurt her and it’s nothing compared to how I’ve been pushed, but I became pissed nonetheless. “First off, don’t treat her that way. Secondly, I just lost all my friends. One of which risked his life for me. Lastly, what do you mean you’d end up like those Space Pirates that tried to conquer my homeworld?”</p><p>
He replies, “First off, you can’t tell me what to do. I am the superior species here. Secondly, I don’t care. Lastly, how do you not know? Their execution was all over the universe.”</p><p>
“Maybe for species as superior as yours to see. We don’t have the type of technology.”</p><p>
“Whatever. If they find out you’re on our planet and that we know about it then we’ll be executed just like they were.”</p><p>
“If who finds out?”</p><p>
“Enough with these questions, human.”</p><p>
“Couldn’t I be sold for a high price? Like to the black market, or something. Wouldn’t that interest you so I could stay for at least a few hours?"
“Only Space Pirates and other criminals can do that, but we don’t have that type of relationship with the Lords of the Universe.”</p><p>
“Lords of the Universe?”</p><p>
“No, get some other species dumb enough to teach you about intergalactic politics. Now go!” He points towards the pitch blackness behind me, as the crown’s flames didn’t reach that far.</p><p>
“I think that’s too far of a walk.”</p><p>
“I don’t care-”</p><p>
She places her hand between us, cutting in. “Hey. Let me make it up by helping her back to back to her ship. She’ll be on her way in no time.”</p><p>
Arms crossed, he accepts the offer, “Fine, but once you get back we’ll discuss your punishment.”</p><p>
“Alright.”</p><p>
Having her horse get up and then her getting on it, she places her arm in front of me. I glare at the bothersome, triangular-headed figure before taking her hand. Once I’m sitting behind her I wrap my arms around her waist as he turns around and goes back to the group. We then left.</p><p>
With two large moons now sitting on the horizon, I’m able to see the horse’s hooves gallop across the dirt, creating small dust clouds with each step. Hair and flames trickling behind us because of its speed. “You shouldn’t let him treat you that way.”</p><p>
“That’s not the first time he acted that way to me, but he’s my brother. He’s older, so he has a right. Besides, he’s the only family I have left. Our parents died when we were little.</p><p>
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”</p><p>
“It’s fine. That was decades ago, but I mean the rest of them are family too. Not blood-related and besides that, they don’t understand what we had to go through, but we still care for each other.”</p><p>
“I don’t remember much of my blood-related family, but I get that last part. Although, I wish I got that sooner.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Chapter 20</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Her horse comes to a halt. She gets down and turns to help me off. Lit before me is the ship. Hesitantly, I headed towards it. With every step I took my feet sunk into the sand, making a soft crunching noise. The closer I came to it, the larger its mouth, its doorway, became. I felt immensely small compared to it. Instead of creating a warm atmosphere the light from my crown causes it to become even more haunting. As I turn my head, I shine it across the ship’s interior and as I do I see the ghostly figures of Skeema, Mikrovos, Saamuki, and Ashley all laughing. The feeling that it gave me should be nice, but it’s empty. We never got to laugh together and maybe we never will. Thinking about it, about Syco, has my grip tighten on the ship’s doorway. Hearing her get back on her horse, I turn around and ask right when she’s about to head off, “Wait.” Stopping her horse, she turns to me. I gulp as I can feel my dark companion looking at me, judging me, from the darkness behind me. I point at my crown. “Don’t you want this back?”</p><p>
“No, I made that for you. It might help you out again soon.”</p><p>
Again, she’s about to leave, but I stop her for the second time. “No, wait, that’s not it. What did your brother mean back there? What kind of punishment?”</p><p>
She shrugs before responding with, “I don’t know. Probably removing my head again. Maybe a little longer than last time.”</p><p>
“He’s done it before?”</p><p>
“Yeah, remember how I said that wasn’t the first time he acted that way? I brought another off-worlder a couple of years ago.”</p><p>
“Does it hurt?”</p><p>
She takes a moment to think about her answer. “A little-No, a lot, actually, but it’s whatever. It’s not like it’ll kill me.”</p><p>
“Why are you acting nonchalant about this,” I flail my arms in the air, “I get he’s your brother and all, but that isn’t caring, and trust me I know when someone is.”</p><p>
“Even if I do agree with what you’re saying, what am I supposed to do about it? Leave him? Where am I supposed to go?”</p><p>
Placing my hand on my chest, “You can come with me. I mean I don’t have a planet unlike you. I don’t know where I’m headed to now, but all I know is it’s certainly better than staying here.”</p><p>
“Thanks, the offer is tempting, but I’m sorry. I can’t accept it.” Hearing her say that, breaks my heart, but I try not to show it. Smiling, though not as real as S1Y’s, I accept her decline. So, I turn back towards the ship. As I do, she continues with, “I hear it’s getting intense up there. Be careful.”</p><p>
“Same to you...um.”</p><p>
“Licata. My name is Licata.”</p><p>
“Be careful, Licata.”</p><p>
“Thank you. Maybe one day we’ll meet again.”</p><p>
The door closes. I’m left to wander inside the ship alone, but not blinded thanks to the literal health hazard above my head. Heart racing, as I move towards the glowing, blue screen, my hand shakily touches it. The ship’s lights turn on, giving me a sigh of relief because the ship isn’t utterly damaged. Then, I motion for the ship to ascend out of its sandy prison and as it does I find Licata on her horse racing off back towards her brother and friends, towards a pain I hope doesn’t last too long.</p><p>
I’m hundreds of feet off the ground, but I wave at her anyway. I know it’s silly. I mean there’s no way she could see it up here, but she turns and looks up at me. If she had a face I imagine it to have smiled.</p><p>
I look down at Vecta and I remind myself that sometimes we have to lie to ourselves so we can forget the painful truth, so we can keep going. So, I lie to myself that I’ll be able to see her again because I don’t know what’s next. All I know is that the impossible lies ahead because I don’t know when or even how, but I plan to get Syco back for this. From him starting another war to causing all of them to be in that zombified state, I plan to fix all of that. However, I don’t know where to even start.</p><p>
Circling the ship, circling me, is the unknown. I stand in the middle of some black canvas with hundreds of glowing paint splatters. Each varies in color and size. Further out in front of me, a faint dot is seen exploding. It shoots out a ray of colors from brown to yellow and sparkles of purple. I had witnessed a supernova, which gets me to conclude that it’s probably a sign I shouldn’t start there. So, I steer the ship to the nearest dot, planet.</p><p>
Proudly landing the ship perfectly, I stride out with my chest puffed out. When I step onto the planet, I see someone exit their ship in the corner of my eye. With us making eye contact, especially them looking at me funny, I hurry back into the ship. I’m reminded that I’m a human, a species low on the universe’s totem pole, thousands of lightyears away from where her homeworld is supposed to be. I can’t just walk out like I own the place. Like I’m not doing anything illegal. I have to think of something soon unless I want to get kicked off this planet as well, or worse. Pacing back and forth, I remember about Saamuki’s spacesuit. So, I rush to get it and when I pull it out I see two large holes punctured through the chest area. “Oh, yeah. Right.”</p><p>
Remembering the last and final time it was used, I throw it aside. With that being my only option, without a disguise, I take a seat and slouch with my arms crossed. That’s when my faceless companion makes their appearance. Beginning to quit this whole insane plan, which I need to repeat and emphasize that it’s absolutely impossible, especially now, I look at them with annoyance.</p><p>
They replicate my crown on their head, grab it, and fling their arm. A staff similar to Licata’s is now wrapped underneath their fingers.</p><p>
“I can’t believe I’m attempting to try to have a conversation with you again, but I don’t need some staff. I don’t need another weapon. I need something to cover me. Besides, I don’t want to burn my hands anytime soon.” My attitude gets them to swing their staff at me. I rub the now pained site. “What the hell?”</p><p>
Instead of answering me with words, they have their staff vanish and grab my crown. Again, they make a staff. This time, they swing the end that’s being swallowed by fire at me. I yelp, but the fire goes right through me. Upon my shock, they turn the staff into a rope and fling it at me. I catch it right when it’s about to hit me.</p><p>
“Okay, I get it. I think. It’s just an illusion. Magic? Maybe it’s hi-tech? I mean either of those explains how it’s able to float on my head, but whatever. That doesn’t matter. Just tell me how you made,” I nudge towards the piece of rope in my hands, “this.”</p><p>
“Relax.”</p><p>
“Relax? How on Ear-space can I relax? After everything I’ve been through.” Someone on the other side of the door is heard knocking. “And now with that? How can I relax?”</p><p>
“Ashley. Mikrovos. Saamuki. S1Y. Skeema too. They all believe in you. They may not have acted like it half the time, but they do. You know they do because if they didn’t I wouldn’t be saying these things.” They morph into a complete copy of me. It weirds me out, but it’s not the weirdest thing I’ve seen.</p><p>
“I-,” for a moment that figurative saying about a cat getting one’s tongue happens to me, “That’s the most I’ve heard you say, but thanks. I needed that. Well, I mean thanks for me reminding me? You’re me, apparently. God, this is so weird.”</p><p>
After they smile, they disappear once again. Another knock is heard. I let out a long, soothing exhale. I tell myself it’s time for me to learn. It’s time for me to mature, or at least learn to finally calm down, so I can think with my head rather than rely on my impulses. If I want to do it. If I want them back, or at the very least try, I have to relax. I close my eyes.</p><p>
Reopening them, I don’t get what I imagined. What I hoped, but it’s still useful nonetheless. Getting out of the ship once again, I greet the woman that was knocking on the ship as Licata’s species. The woman is slimy, light green, and covered in red dots. She could be considered completely naked if it wasn’t for the several badges on the right side of her chest. On each, they’ve been etched with words, but they’re much too small for me to read. In a rough, scratchy voice she asks, “I got a report you have a human on board this ship.”</p><p>
“Human? I’m certain I have none of those. Why would I?” I let out an obviously fake laugh, which gets her to look oddly at me.</p><p>
“Well, I can’t merely write your word in my report. Move aside.” I do and she checks around. Seeing her slime drag across the floor, across what’s now my ship, grosses me out and annoys me because I somehow have to clean that up later. “What a surprise. You don’t. I told that man it’d be impossible to find a human this out in space, especially after Earth’s imprisonment.”</p><p>
“Imprisonment?”</p><p>
She opens her mouth and slides her hand down her throat. A pen and paper, which are drenched in her slime, are taken out. She points her pen at me before saying, “You haven’t read about it yet? It’s all over my feed. Everyone’s been talking about ever since this morning.”</p><p>
Earth isn’t gone. I didn’t cause the death of millions. Ashley and I still have a home.</p><p>
“Do you know where Earth is? Do you know where it’s being kept?” I grab her shoulders and give her a slight shake, which I soon regret.</p><p>
Grabbing my wrists and moving my now slimy hands off of her, “As if that kind of information would be public. Besides, it doesn’t matter if it was because it’s only a matter of time before Earth gets what’s coming to it. Those humans broke one of the highest laws of the universe.” She writes down some notes for her report.</p><p>
“Okay, do you at least know how to get to Saamuki?”</p><p>
“Who?”</p><p>
“She’s The Eyes of the Underworld’s sister.”</p><p>
“Why in the universe would you want anyone that has to do with one of the universe’s worst criminals?” She squints her eyes on me, suspicious.</p><p>
“Ugh, I don’t have time for this. I’ll go ask someone that does.”</p><p>
Pushing her out of the way, I head towards the bridge leading to the city ahead, but before I’m an earshot away from her I hear her mutter, “Why do I always get the weird ones?”</p><p>
The city up head is a combination between New York City and Tokyo as the buildings are squished together with bright neon lights attached to them, but subtract the rectangular shapes their buildings tend to be and replace them with circular and triangular shapes. Also, there’s a giant, white celestial body a bit too close to the highest skyscraper. Midway through my concentration of walking towards the city, I hear someone giggle. Turning to the sound, I see a child, who looks like a human mixed with a fish, standing on their tippy-toes with a red balloon in one hand and the other holding onto the bridge. I first write it off as just them being weird until I see a group of gigantic fish splashing from point to point in the water below us. It’s scary to watch, as their size reminds me of the serpent, but because of how elegantly they move they replace that with a sense of awe. Getting closer, moving next to the child, I see the waters change color every time a fish hits the water. Every second of their show then on has me as hooked as the child. As much as I’d like it to last just a tiny bit longer, it ends with one of the fish shooting out water into the sky, which has the child clap. I clap too soon after.</p><p>
Once the child turns away I too turn away. As they head elsewhere, I continue my walk towards the city. Even though my face doesn’t show it I’m smiling because, as random as that was, I take that as a good sign. I take it as a sign that the road ahead won’t be as terrible as I first thought because it showed me that even in the darkest times, when things seem impossible, they’ll always be something beautiful, something absolutely amazing, to help you get back to the light. To remind you that the unknown is just that. Just the unknown. Bad things will always happen on the roads you don’t know, on the roads you’re not comfortable with, but that doesn’t mean good things will never happen while on them. The unknown attracts both the bad and the good. You just have to keep walking forward until you find what you’re looking for.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Chapter 21</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>An unnamed Space Explorer must come to terms with the fate of the universe resting in her hands.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Chapters 21-25 are part 5.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The lights attracted me and in the process, they blinded me from the darkness that awaited ahead. They tempted me, tricking me, towards what its people have gotten sickened of. Of why its people want to run away from such a place with so much beauty. Of why its people want to escape from it, but can’t because this is all they know. Leaving would mean entering a new path towards a new world. Leaving would mean entering the unknown. As far as I know, the unknown is just a cruel, faceless power. Forget what I said earlier. It’s brought me more harm than good. This despise is something I’ve grown to feel, something that has strengthened as I scrape the bottom of my foot across this brick wall. I could’ve seen the squishy, sticky, and stinky substance easily with my newfound height, but as soon as I entered the city I was toppled and nearly suffocated by a bustling crowd. It felt as if that serpent from S1Y’s planet wrapped its body around me, squeezing me and tightening its hold every time I conjured the strength to try to fight free. I didn’t even get to scream for mercy, but at least it ended as quickly as it came.</p><p>
I’m sitting on a piece of some cracked sidewalk with my head against the part of the wall where I didn’t viciously scrub my foot, which is stained with pieces of the substance, as I watch the sea of people I managed to swim past go to who knows where. I could assume some headed towards whatever job they had by their attire and the tiresome look within their eyes. Others I guessed were heading home after finishing school by their attire and their youthful, innocent faces as well. However, in their eyes, I could see they’re being molded. I could see the tiresomeness building within them too. This causes my heart to sink as they spread their gloominess to me. Speaking of gloominess, above the city are dark grey clouds looming overhead. I, unsurprisingly, assumed too quickly. This place is a different world, but it’s the same story. Lowering my head, so that my eyes are looking at the insect crawling under my crossed legs, the figure with whom I have built an unlabeled relationship appears in front of me. They mimic my posture but are looking right at me and are of course not phased by the several people walking through them.</p><p>
Sighing, I look up to meet their eyes. I note how they’re as black as coal. They’re as empty as an abyss. They’re as empty as outer space. At least they have my face, my face before it became cubic, so I didn’t jump that much. I’ve known this figure for a while. I’ve known them for too long. Realizing this, I chuckle. I brush my hand to where my hair is supposed to be, but I imagined my fingers gliding between the strands. I’ve become insane, I concluded. Maybe I always have. Whether this is true or not, maybe it’s for the best. I take it as the universe getting back at me. When they speak, I also realize I have yet to become comfortable with hearing my voice come out of their mouth. Well, technically it’s my mouth. My mind? Anyways, “You were never the one to give up so easily. Why have you now?”</p><p>
I am frustrated. I am tired. Most importantly I am hungry. So, I shout, “Because I was stupid back then! I was naïve!”</p><p>
I could only imagine how the people around us reacted. Some Vector...Some Vection? Some other names not related to Vecta?...However, as Licata’s people are labeled, I’m still shouting at nothing. Clearly, I am done. Clearly, I am out of my mind. So, in the corners of my sight, I see people go around us and make sure the distance between me and them is more than enough for them to make it out unscathed if I am to suddenly pride myself on my insanity. Seeing how I’ve made a fool out of myself, I lower both my shoulders and head.</p><p>
Quietly, I continue, “I knew what was out there. I’m sure she knew, but it’s only until recently I understand. That she understood too. It all came running at me. Ashley is right. What business do I think that I, a mere human, can fix both the intergalactic issue and personal issues I’ve created,” I sigh for the second time within my depressive state, “And I wanted to find Saamuki? It’s only a matter of time before she finds out about Mikrovos. I failed her. I failed Earth. I failed Ashley. I failed myself.”</p><p>
“No, you haven’t,” an unknown voice answered in the figure’s place. Turning to it, as my ghostly twin disappears, I see an elderly woman draped in one too many layers of fabric that covered just about every inch of her except her face. This and along with her hunchback causes her to look a whole lot shorter than she actually is.</p><p>
All four of her eyes squinted at me, causing me to question, “Are you talking to me?”</p><p>
“Please, dearie, come with me.”</p><p>
“But I don’t know y-”</p><p>
Before I can finish she grabs my arm and leads me into the very building I was just leaning against. Somehow for someone of her stature, specifically with the lack of muscle, she can move me without much effort. Once we’re inside she lets go of my arm and proceeds to water a potted plant. The bucket’s water rains onto the plant’s leaves. Tiny droplets of water drip off of the leaves, but most are motioned by the leaves to slide down its stem. Whereby touching the dirt is then absorbed.</p><p>
I don’t know how much time I have until she turns back around. So, I don’t waste any more time and I reach for the gun hiding underneath my cloak. Again, this elderly woman remains to surprise me because she tells me, “There is no need to get rash. Although, I understand why you want to make such an attempt. I am sorry for my ill-mannered action earlier, but I worried about your safety.” I raised my eyebrow. Well, if I did have one I would’ve. “As you were bickering with yourself, there was a being outside that took interest in you. A being that has ties to those you are currently incapable of dealing with.”</p><p>
“Right. Well, I’m sure they wouldn’t try to do anything in such a large crowd. It was pure luck that I got past them, but I guess I have to thank you for your consideration anyway.”</p><p>
Inching towards the door and reaching for its handle, she turns around to face me. The wood beneath us creaks because of her movement. “It’s only natural for those that have escaped from death one too many times think they can, but unknowing to them, now escaping will be their death. While not as sophisticated as the rest of the universe, humans are still remarkable beings.” I fling my hand away from the doorknob. “They have accomplished so much, but they aren’t unstoppable. Even those with a godly presence can be killed as well. You will come to terms with that, human.”</p><p>
Gun pressed against her forehead, she doesn’t flinch. “You know I’m a human.”</p><p>
“While you should be careful of your own voice I have known about that part of you for some time now. I’ve known about it even before you stumbled onto my homeworld, but I did not bring you here for trouble. If I was I would’ve done so already.”</p><p>
“Why? What’s your goal? Why are you sounding like you’re trying to help me?”</p><p>
“That’s because I am.” She smiles, which causes my grip to shake. That type of smile isn’t new to me. She continues, “Understandably so, you have many questions now awaiting for me to answer. More is being formed the more I speak. Youth does that.</p><p>
“Just get to the point. I don’t have the time nor the patience.”</p><p>
“You’ve been hurt, dearie.” The woman reaches out. Her hand is above my left cheek, parallel to my arm that’s holding the gun. Without me stopping her, she places her hand on me. I flinch, but too quickly I let the affection get to me.</p><p>
“Because of it, you’ve lost yourself, or so you would like to believe. I am a friend of Saamuki’s sister. Just like her sister, I have an extraordinary gift, but sometimes it’s a curse. It’s greatly reduced my years,” she continued.</p><p>
Regaining my grip on the gun, “How-How do I know you’re not lying?”</p><p>
“You don’t. I am a stranger to you, but I have known of you ever since you came to be. Believe what you wish, but if you want to believe your judgment rather than my words then pull the trigger. However, you already know those that are on the verge of death do not lie. My declining health is no secret.”</p><p>
“If you dare to do anything problematic I won’t hesitate to shoot.”</p><p>
“Of course.”</p><p>
“Now what do you mean you’re a friend of Saamuki’s sister? How exactly does that have to do with saving me?”</p><p>
“As you already know, her sister has passed. While that is true, her spirit has not. She had gotten word about your possible future and its correlation to the universe’s fate. Not too long ago she contacted me. We weren’t that close. We were rivals at one point. At first, I didn’t believe her. No, I didn’t want to believe her. When I saw them looking at you that’s when I chose to believe her. That’s when I knew what might’ve happened may have happened.”</p><p>
“What do you mean possible future? What do I have to do with the fate of the universe? And who’s them?”</p><p>
She coughs before answering, “The universe is no longer what it once was. Centuries ago the universe was at peace. Because of this, it wasn’t prepared. It was naïve. One being split themselves into several. On that day they became the ruler of the universe. Scattered throughout his kingdom are their Watchers. Watchers take notes of the cracks in the walls and report them back to the Lords. One of those cracks is a human, millions of lightyears away from her homeworld. It is that very human that will free the universe from the Lords’ reign.”</p><p>
“That’s some nice lore there, but me? You said it yourself. I’m a human, one that’s definitely incapable of doing a universe-wide coup d'état. These Watchers have to be far stronger than anything I’ve ever had to face. So, there’s no way I’m able to do the impossible you’re asking me.”</p><p>
“Correction, I said that you’re currently incapable.”</p><p>
“I’ve only made it this far because I had people with me. They did the work. Not me, but when I tried to I got my ass kicked. So, I’m not some messiah. I’m just a human who’s lost in space.”</p><p>
“We only claim we are lost when we have become blind.”</p><p>
“That’s a lot coming from you.”</p><p>
“I could see much more than you think I can. I can see you are hungry.” With that, my stomach growls, and I can feel my face heat up in embarrassment because of it. “I’ll whip us both some lunch.”</p><p>
I let her walk away and head into a room behind a curtain. With her leaving me alone, I notice the place’s details. Her home, I assume it is, is small. It’s nearly claustrophobic. Candles float above and bookshelves have been stacked on either side of me. They touch the roof, but that’s not saying much considering I have to slouch just enough for my crown not to touch the candles. The bookshelves, though not grand, held a couple of hundred books at one point. They’ve scattered all over her home over time. A handful rest in a pile next to my left foot. Many of them lean against the feet of the bookshelves. The rest have been stacked into a makeshift table for the potted plant. Dust sparkles in nearly every inch of this place. Cobwebs as well, but they’re not as prominent.</p><p>
The old woman motions for me to join her in the other room. Maybe I felt bad because I got the hint that I'm the first living person that’s talked to her in a while. Maybe it was because I’ve been hungry for the past half hour. Whatever the case I follow. Besides, whatever she cooked smells too good not to try. Although, as I should know by now, with every step towards heaven there’s always something that’ll make me slip back into hell.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Chapter 22</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As much angst as I now have, I can admit when I’m wrong. At least I hope I am as my teeth rip into the flesh of whatever chicken-tasting alien it came from. I was hesitant right from the moment the old woman asked me to take a seat. I dragged my feet to the chair right across from hers. While her chair and the very one I’m sitting on could perfectly fit her my chair could barely hold me. I couldn’t reach for the food that sat between us or I’d find myself getting a mouthful of dust and cobwebs rather than the cooking that’s caused my walls to crack. A good two inches of my butt’s edges rested in the air. So, other than having to deal with the awkwardness created by the lack of words between either of us I had to deal with the awkwardness made by trying to keep myself balanced on this tiny chair not intended for Licata’s people too. I mean I could easily turn back into a human. I would have a more comfortable time if I did. I mean I think I know how to change back, but I also think I had a better advantage of staying like this. Easily, I could reach the little, elderly alien if she were to try anything other than handing me slices of her cooking.</p><p>
If you were either Ashely or Mikrovos you may have lectured me about taking a bite into some stranger’s cooking because that very stranger may have either poisoned or did some other awful thing to it, but trust me I smelt and poked it plenty before that very stranger swallowed down her share of the very same source mine came from. Even though those two probably would’ve assumed I let my impulses be at my forefront I still wish they were here. I wish I heard their voices even if it meant another petty argument would start between the two. Mikrovos could’ve taken over Ashley’s space with his elbows and Ashley would ask him to be more mindful of his space, but he’d take offense to it and tell her that she’s the one in his space. If Saamuki was here too then she’d ask the same of Mikrovos, but he’d comply without any sour remark. Ashley would roll her eyes and I’d comfort her. Now if Skeema was here then the argument’s conclusion would juxtapose to looking at Skeema, eyeing him to eat quieter. Imagining this, I realize how much we acted like a family. That and along with how cramped it would’ve been, causes my reflection on the meat’s sauce to redden.</p><p>
“It’s good to finally see you happy, dearie,” the host of this lunch commented.</p><p>
I ignored her because I realized how much I miss all of them. My hands grip the tablecloth and they shake. It took me a while to notice her hands on top of mine. When I do, I stop shaking and look up to meet her gentle smile. “S1Y,” I hiccup before continuing, “he’s dead because of me. They’re all dead because of me.”</p><p>
Again, it took me a while to notice her touch. My eyes widened, realizing she wrapped her arms around me. Her hug is warm. It’s because of this I can’t help but hug back and cry into her shoulder.</p><p>
I’m embarrassed. I make sure to avoid her gaze and that my hand is covering my blush. It was quiet. Clearly, she was waiting for me to speak. So, I start the conversation, “Why must I still act like a child?”</p><p>
“Dearie, there is no shame in crying.”</p><p>
Continuing to mumble between my fingers, “There is when it means crying in front of people I don’t know. This is the second time that it’s happened today.”</p><p>
“Showing the world you have feelings is not childish. We all cry and sometimes we have to do it in front of others we wouldn’t usually find ourselves crying in front of.”</p><p>
“But the problem is every time I do it I make it seem like I’m the victim when I’m the one that created the problem.”</p><p>
“We are all victims of something or someone, dearie. However, it’s how you deal with this that matters. We can either continue the path of pity or set ourselves on the course of acceptance.”</p><p>
“You want me to just accept they’re dead?”</p><p>
“No.” I look at her before she continues. “What I’m trying to say is that to stop victimizing ourselves we need to accept that we are not perfect. We all make mistakes, some of which we regret throughout the rest of our lives. I have made my fair share. However, what makes my situation different from yours is that I chose to sit around and wait. Because of it, I no longer have time. But you do, dearie.”</p><p>
“But how do you know? How do you know it’s not too late for me?”</p><p>
“Because you’re young. The young let their pain get the better of them.”</p><p>
“Why me, though? Why does all of this have to happen to me?”</p><p>
“Because you represent what the universe has lacked, strength.” On the other side of the doorway’s curtains, the floorboards creaked. I didn’t hesitate to get out my gun and stand up, but the old woman places her hand on the gun’s barrel before I can head towards the cause of the noise. “This is a fight you don’t need to play out. Focus on your safety rather than mine.” Placing her hand on my cheek, she has my head lower, and our foreheads touch. With the vision of Saamuki’s watery eyes seemingly staring straight at me as she hugs herself on her bed, I stumble backward. It felt like my soul was ripped out of my body, flung through space at such a speed it caused me to now become nauseous, and then abruptly thrown back into my body. Touching my pounding head, I now know how to get to her. Removing me from my rising questions, is her telling me, “My name is Ojos.”</p><p>
I don’t get the chance to react because when she places her hand on my chest I’m teleported outside her home in the pouring rain, which kills my crown’s fire. Facing the crowd now fitted with umbrellas, who didn’t take any notice of my sudden appearance before them, I turned around towards her home. It was too quiet. I feel my hand sweat and grip slip on the gun because of it. My heart drops. Then, in the middle of my anxiousness, a white-cloaked figure who has their hood covering their face steps out. Merely looking at them causes a shiver to run up my spine. So, I don’t hesitate to turn around and dash away. I push past people as best I could, getting a few foul mouths and them pushing right back at me. Heart racing, I ignore and push them back harder. I don’t know how wide the distance between me and that figure is, but I could feel them just inches away from me. I can feel their hand reaching towards me. The hairs on the back of my neck stick up as the rain pelts down on me. Eventually, I make it out of the highly densely populated area and find myself on the city’s edge. Foot stepping onto the bridge, it slips on a puddle. I grumble my hatred for rain, but more precisely puddles. As I get back up, in the corner of my vision I see the figure a few feet behind me. So, I once again used whatever strength I had and forced the ache of my body to subside. I don’t even stop until I’m inside the ship. Hands pressing down on Saamuki’s chair, I look out the window and see the figure unfazed by all the running I made it go through. They’re once again eerily a few feet away but this time I’m able to see a featureless mask covering their face. No lips. No nose. And most importantly no eyes. They, without the need to stop me, remain standing there. The only movement they make while in that spot is their head following the ship as I fly it out of there.</p><p>
Panting and staring out at space, I cough and smile because of how my body still has yet to adjust to my tendency of finding myself needing to run. Wiping away the mix of sweat and rain from my forehead as the chair beneath me absorbs my soaked self, I try to come to terms with all the things piling up. Turning my head, so that I’m facing my nonphysical companion, I ask as if I didn’t already conclude, “Was that a Watcher?”</p><p>
“Let’s focus on getting to Saamuki first,” they reminded me.</p><p>
I’ve been on this planet three times already, but it still feels foreign. It feels cold. It feels like something Saamuki would hate. Hours have passed since my landing. The sky is now dark. It now reveals the place I’ve grown to fear. Shaking my head, I move towards what’s basically Saamuki’s prison.</p><p>
It takes some time for me to find the secret door as I tried not to think about what I was walking across. Obviously, I don’t have Mikrovos. Because of that, I made a snarky remark towards what Ojos claimed I represented. Drained both emotionally and physically, I scratch, throw my fists, and hit my forehead onto the hidden door. I go on to think about what the others would do. Skeema, if he didn’t memorize the schematics of the building already, would use his robotic half to find another way.</p><p>
That being said, it has me to say out loud, “I’m really stupid, aren’t I?”</p><p>
There’s no way anyone would know unless the universe wanted to test me once again by having this disguise revert me to my human form. Still, my heart squeezed in my chest. The feeling that it would suddenly burst and have my blood seep out of every hole it could find increased immensely with the man that broke Mikrovos’ heart. “It’s a pleasure, Talten,” Cabelo greeted me with a bow. A passerby looked at me. A few whispered to the person beside them. One took out what I guessed was a phone and took a picture of me. I heard them proceed to type on it soon after. “Now I don’t mean to be offensive. Believe me, I am willing to be educated, but don’t Taltens prefer isolation on Vecta? What’s one doing out here?”</p><p>I wasn’t expecting those types of questions. How could I have? Actually, I wasn’t expecting any questions at all because I didn’t plan any of this out. I expected this to be easy. Just in and out. That, like always, proves to be my flaw. Thankfully, my inner self makes their appearance. They hold my hand. Not actually, of course not, but I still get the sentiment. So, I answer calmly with, “I sought a better future for myself as I realized my previous feelings towards my homeworld and the beliefs of its people are flawed.”</p><p>
“Ah, yes. Taltens are traditional, so to speak. I hope my business brings insight and by doing so satisfies what you are looking for. Do you have a room already in mind?”</p><p>
It felt weird being in this room, especially in this position. I, like the first time, bit my lip and tried to relax by watching the various alien fish swim below my feet. Twiddling my thumbs, I gulp. I’m not scared about the whole part about stopping her before I cheat on Ashley with her. The part I am scared of is the aftermath of me telling her who I am. The part I am scared of is seeing her face when she realizes I broke her promise. That I failed her.</p><p>
“I am honored that a Talten has asked for my services.” Her dress accentuated her figure. It’s nearly skintight, causing creases to form around her breasts and waist. Again, she swayed her hips from side to side. This causes the sleeves of her dress to slip and show more of her cleavage. Placing her hand on my cheek and upper thigh, which the latter is sliding up towards my crotch, I gulp for the second time. “Use me however you please,” she whispered as she placed my hand on her right breast and leaned towards my chest.</p><p>
Before it can proceed, “Saamuki, wait, it’s me. Mikrovos’ friend.” Immediately she wraps her arms around me.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Chapter 23</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Head pressed against her chest, she held me as if I wasn’t real. As if I’d disappear and when I did she’d wake up in her bed underneath a soaked pillow. Soaked because she was crying as she slept. Soaked because she wasn’t alone anymore. “I’m so sorry,” she muttered through the tears.</p><p>
Moving her away from me, heartbroken, I look up to see her eyes. They’re watery with dark circles underneath. Looking at them, made me even more heartbroken. Saamuki didn’t deserve pain. She’s not like me. She doesn’t fuck up. She puts others before herself unlike me. I questioned her, “What do you mean?”</p><p>
“I heard what happened. Your homeworld. Maybe if I was there I could’ve done something. I could’ve prevented it. I could only imagine what you must be feeling right now.” Her grip tightens. I can feel my cloak twist and bend underneath her grip.</p><p>
“What? No. I should be the one apologizing. I broke your promise. I couldn’t save Mikrovos.”</p><p>
Just a moment ago I was the bigger person, literally, even though she stood above me. Now I’m small, as I’m once again human. I felt small. Saamuki and I are about the same height, me being just an inch taller, but at this moment with how she’s looking down at me I felt like a child who’s about to be scolded by their parents. I flinched when she opened her mouth to say, “Mikrovos?” Her voice cracked. It was as if she was a teenager going through puberty. “I was wondering where he and the others were. What happened? Please, tell me what’s happened since we went our separate ways.”</p><p>
She takes a seat next to me. I opened my mouth to respond but quickly shut it. I was about to emphasize that I’m the bad guy between us, but I retract it because the look in her eyes told me this isn’t the time for that. Those bags underneath them told me she’s been talked down to plenty during our separation. Saamuki deserves answers and nothing less. Besides, she’s the only one I have left. “As you may have guessed, a lot has happened.”</p><p>
After retelling her everything, “Wow. I mean I knew some of it, but I never would’ve guessed all of that. Are you alright?”</p><p>
“Am I alright,” I look away from her, “Yes. Sure. Maybe? But, Saamuki, are you? I broke your promise. I failed you. Mikrovos...I left him.” I clenched the sheet beneath us. She, in my defenseless state, places her hand on the very thigh that was about to be the victim of adultery. This time her intent isn’t out of lust. It’s different. It’s gentle like how a mother would touch her child. Resting it there, until I lift my head, she gives me the type of smile that says she understands. On the other hand, I don’t. I don’t understand how she can be so okay with this.</p><p>
Noticing my resentment over her reaction, “I know you already. You did what you could.”</p><p>
I place my hand on my chest. I clutch it. My eyes water. I’m about to cry again, but with me biting my lip I’m able to hold back my tears. “No, I didn’t. Mikrovos and the others, if any of them were in my shoes, could do it. They wouldn’t have fucked up as much as I have.”</p><p>
“Well, that’s the problem. You’re not any of them. You’re you.”</p><p>
“And what’s so good about being me? Tell me, Saamuki. Please. What’s so good about being the one that started a second intergalactic war?”</p><p>
“Because you try your hardest even when things are against you. Even when circumstances have become impossible you always manage to do what you can to fight for things you think are right. Not many people can do that. I,” her voice lowers, “can’t. I’ve tried, but you’ve done things I’d never think of doing in a million years.”</p><p>
“Saamuki?”</p><p>
“With the destruction of our homeworld, my sister and I had to fend for ourselves. Some days we couldn’t eat. Some days we couldn’t sleep. We were the last of our people. We were young. We were forced into a whole new world, so to speak. My sister took whatever job she could to earn just enough for both of us to eat, but one day she got tired of it. She used her gift. She became a criminal. I didn’t like it because I didn’t want to see her one day locked up or, worse, killed. We argued. In my frustration, Cabelo found me. When my sister found out, we argued again, but that time we went our separate ways. I haven’t seen her since.” I hug her. She hugs me back. Our hug doesn’t last as long as our previous. It’s short, but I feel the same amount of burning, heartfelt emotion.</p><p>
“I’m sorry. If I could do something about that I would.”</p><p>
“I know you would, but that’s why I had to split up from the group. I think I found a way to bring my sister back to life.”</p><p>
“What?” It’s all I can say. What else could I have said other than it sounds crazy? I don’t have a set belief in what happens once we die. I’m not too into the idea of an afterlife, like Heaven and Hell, and that there’s a higher power out there. I guess I’d be labeled as agnostic, which once again makes me an outlier. After the first invasion, the survivors either became atheists or way more religious than they previously were. Though they make up a small population, barely a million, they make up the total population in rural areas. They claimed it was to get closer to God as cities are filled with technology, sins. These people believe our innovations are what made God wipe out a good ninety-four percent of the original population. They call themselves God’s Children. If the name they chose hasn’t already revealed it yet, they’re full of themselves. They’re more full of themselves than that commander with the electric whip, or so Ashley has said. Speaking of her, this all would have sounded a lot more interesting if she told it.</p><p>
“Below this building is a room only Cabelo is allowed to enter. Throughout the years I’ve worked under Cabelo I learned that I don’t know him all that much. He’s surprisingly secretive, but one night before we met I got tired of all the secrets. I seduced one of his guards and by doing so I was able to head down to the basement. I was lost. I didn’t know how long. Hours maybe. Maybe it was just a few minutes. It’s a labyrinth down there, but I eventually found a room where an unfamiliar language was spoken. I tried opening the door, but it was locked. No, actually, there weren’t any knobs on it. Not even a screen to swipe, but it was clear that the piece of the wall could be moved. So, I left. I did some digging and I found that the reason I haven’t heard that language before is that it hasn’t been spoken for thousands of years as it died with its civilization.”</p><p>
I didn’t mean to sound so bitterly dismissive, but I did. “So, you think Cabelo is contacting the dead down in the basement?"</p><p>
“He’s doing other stuff down there, but yes. I know it sounds completely crazy. I thought so too, but it’s the only logical conclusion I can think of.”</p><p>
“I’m just trying to understand. Believe me, I am, but if you’re right how exactly are you going to bring your sister back to life?”</p><p>
“Well, I was thinking that if I were to get into that room I’d be able to contact my sister or some other spirit about the process. They have to know. Someone has to by now.”</p><p>
“Saamuki, these are a lot of maybes. It all just sounds impossible.” She eyes me like a child who’s spent all day scripting and practicing what they were going to ask their parents but just ends up hearing what they were trying to avoid. Essentially, she gives me wide eyes. “But you’re right. I always do what I think is right. So, I’m going to help you get into that room.”</p><p>
It was more so I thought it was the most logical thing to do. Saamuki is focused on getting her sister back, I understand that. So, that’s the reason why I want to help her other than feeling guilty. For her to join and help me out again, I need to help her out first.</p><p>
“Thank you, but how?”</p><p>
Lending me a jacket to cover my face from prying eyes, I followed right behind her with my head down. We saw no one using the winding, long staircase. It was too late in the night for anyone to be walking about. They were too busy either doing someone or being done by someone in their rooms. Or so I thought because once we stepped into the lobby I saw the reflection of a couple on the marble floor. I wasn’t panicking. They were drunk. Very drunk. Their laughter and slurred words echoed across the lobby as they stumbled towards who knew where. Actually, I was a little panicked but calm for the most part. Because I have a clearer mind, I’m only now able to realize how truly large this place is. The glass ceiling, which is in the shape of an arch, allowed me to see the floors I had just gone through. They seemed to go on forever. I’m amazed I wasn’t panting because Saamuki’s room is on the top floor. I suppose that’s about floor eighty if I’m counting correctly. Basically, I’ve burned through a lot of staircases.</p><p>
Thankfully we’re able to walk to the other side of the room without a hitch. That is until a deep voice calls out to Saamuki from the other side of the hallway.</p><p>
Both turning around to the culprit with my head still down, I eye a figure who’s just as big as Mikrovos. He’s wide and bulky. Sprinkles of grey hair can be seen in the sea of their black hair. He shares the same uniform as Cabelo’s guards, but a blood-red sash had been swung diagonally across his suit. “Saamuki, what are you doing here? You know you’re not allowed in this area.”</p><p>
Walking towards him, she places her left hand behind his back and her other hand on his chest. She looks at him as she slides her hand down. He, in return, blushes. “Lucy, you know I get so bored sometimes. I know every inch of this place, but not down there,” she whined with a moan.</p><p>
As she’s about to unbuckle his belt, he can barely muster words. “Y-You know I c-can’t just do that. I’m not even allowed down there. And, S-Saamuki, who’s that behind you?” He looks over her shoulder and looks at me. I gulp. In response, she moves his head so that he’s facing her again.</p><p>
“Lucy, don’t be such a bore. I’ve seen how you look at me. I know how I make you feel. Remember that night? I could make you feel like that again.” She whispers that last part under her breath.</p><p>“No, Saamuki. Maybe some other time. You know somewhere else, but I can’t do that again. We almost got caught. If we were my wife would’ve found out. My kids. Oh, God, Saamuki. I love them. I can’t bear to never see them again.”</p><p>
As they bantered, I could hear someone closing in on us. So, I changed the plan and pointed my gun at the hulking figure that is Lucy. Raising both of his hands and looking shocked, but offended at Saamuki, I command before he gets the chance to speak his mind, “Let us through that door or I’m going to make sure that you really never get to see your kids again.”</p><p>
Saamuki is surprised by the sudden tension I caused. She knows that this isn’t me. She knows I don’t usually act this way, but I think she notices the footsteps too, which allows her to trust me. Or she just thinks I’m really on the edge because I’ve told her I only act this way when I am. Or both. Whatever went through my reptilian companion’s mind isn’t my focus. It’s getting the now sweating Lucy to comply before we find out who’s footsteps those are.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Chapter 24</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lucy’s sweat, which now glistened his forehead and the crevasses of his face, descended to his suit and sash. They darkened their colors. It looked like I had shot him. It looked like his blood pooled and drenched into their fabrics. The footsteps are getting all too close, but Lucy has yet to decide. His eyes dodge the sight of the gun by switching their focus from me to Saamuki, but mostly Saamuki. As for Saanuki, she’s chosen to look away from both of us with her arms crossed. It felt like I was going to blackout from all the suspense. I tried gulping it down, but it only made it worse. So, I thought I was going to have to do it. I thought I was going to kill the father of who knows how many children. They’d wake up and run out of their rooms. Instead of spending time with their father as they usually did for breakfast, which was the only time they saw him, they’d find their mother hunched down on the table with tears in her eyes. They’d, as they hesitantly stepped towards her, ask what’s wrong. She wouldn’t say a word, too hurt, but when they see their father’s sash held in her arms they’d realize what happened and cry. Their mother, leaving her husband's sash on the table, would hug them. She’d do her best to comfort them. Eventually, the cries would stop, but the pain wouldn’t. The children would live the rest of their lives without a father. As for their mother, she’d have to wake up every day in the large, empty bed she’d used to share with her husband. Thinking of this made me nauseous even though he cheated on her with Saamuki. I thought I was going to throw up, but I was saved by Lucy finally making his decision. “Fine, but Saamuki, if Cabelo finds out about this you’re on your own.”</p><p>
Turning back to face the guard, “That’s not new to me.”</p><p>
As Lucy headed elsewhere and Saamuki led me to the door at the end of the hallway, I got a strange feeling that told me to turn around. I do and I find the source of the footsteps, but I also get stricken by fear. In the mouth of the hallway stands a Watcher. They don’t have any eyes, as far as I could tell, but I can still feel them staring me down. Noticing my sudden stiff self, Saamuki stops and turns to see what I’m looking at. Seeing her reaction in the corner of my eye makes me doubt my sense of sight. “You see that too, right, Saamuki?”</p><p>
“See what? See Lucy?” Rubbing my eyes, the figure is no longer there. Taking this as my mind messing with me, and as an indication, I’m not sane, I tell her to forget about it. We continue walking with my arms covered in goosebumps until Saamuki opens the door for me. A dimly lit room with flickering lights and a steel ladder that descended into a dark abyss greeted me. The last time I was here it wasn’t like this. It wasn’t frightening. Although, most of my attention was on keeping pace with everyone. “What’s wrong?”</p><p>
“Nothing. Sorry.”</p><p>
The further we descended the colder it became. At one point I began to see my breath. The more rungs I grasped the stronger the frostbite on my hands became. The flames from my crown lit up the cramped space circling me and provided me heat as best it could. The trip down the ladder was long. It seemed like it was never going to end, at one point I thought it wasn’t, but a moment later I and then Saamuki finally stepped onto the basement floor. Three hallways stood before us. The middle of which the others and I used. Saamuki nudged me to the hallway right across from the one the group and I saw her and Cabelo walking out of the first time I was here. I follow her. We go through several convoluted twists and turns until we just need one more turn before we’re in front of the door. Both of us hid and waited behind the very wall we needed to get past for that to happen.</p><p>
On the other side of the door, I can hear Cabelo talking to someone. “It looks like he’s still in there,” Saamuki reaffirmed my assumption. She said something else, but I ignored and tried to listen to what was being said on the other side of that door.</p><p>
“Free the blood,” a voice growled.</p><p>
The voice was about to say more, but Cabelo cut their conversation short. The door slid open and revealed Cabelo pressing two fingers between where I think is his nose. He turns and walks away and as he does the door begins to slide close. This was my chance. This was finally my chance to redeem myself after all the shit I’ve pulled. After all the utter embarrassing failures, this was my moment to shine. I grab the crown from my head and even with my mixed feelings of the spiritual realm I pray that it works. I pray that I’m able to make a staff. I didn’t get to see Licata’s staff for long, but it’s burned into the back of my mind. No pun intended. I imagine it and focus it on the crown. Heart dropping, eyes widening, I realize I did it, so I throw it. It all happened so fast. The staff comes barreling towards the crack with its flames trailing right behind it. One second longer and we’d alert Cabelo we’re here by the loud clanking noise it would’ve made if it fell to the ground. The staff slid through the sliver of space between the door and wall. With Cabelo out of sight and both of us smiling that our poorly put together plan was going to work out, after all, we headed towards the door.</p><p>
Preventing the door from closing was the easy part. The hard part, at least for now, is bringing it all the way open. Saamuki grabbed the door’s edge and tried moving it. Sweat and a vein appeared on her forehead, but it came to no avail. If she couldn’t do it then there’s no way I could, but I got that sense again. I stepped forward and wrapped my fingers around the door’s edge. The room is pitch black. A breeze hit me. I thought it was just a breeze, but leaning in I realize it’s whispering.</p><p>
“What are they-” I raised my hand for her to quiet. She does.</p><p>
“Let our minds become one, child,” the very same voice I heard growling had hushed this into my ears. I don’t know what I did at that moment, but the next thing I know is that I’m holding the staff with my hood down and that the room is wide open. I tried swinging the staff around for us to see what’s in that room, but for some unknown reason, the room remains black. So, I look at Saamuki and see that she’s taken a step away from me. Something happened. Something clearly happened to my body a few moments ago. I was about to ask her what happened, but I noticed something warm around my eyes. Raising my free hand to them, I find blood on my fingers. My eyes are bleeding, but I’ve suffered no effect. I can see, but it’s not like there’s anything worth seeing. After a few more moments, though I have yet to digest what happened, we both head inside. Once we do the door behind us shuts. Both looking at each other, we gulp, and begin to regret our decisions. Laughter erupts. It echoes, making it seem like there are multiple beings inside this room besides us.</p><p>
Was it bravery? Utter fear? Or plain stupidity? I call out to it, “Show yourself.”</p><p>
Was it an act of chivalry? Knowing they had nothing to fear because we were at their mercy? Or to get a better view of the two people they’ve caused to become pale? The figure looked like a clergy. Their outfit is as black as the darkness around us but it’s also fitted with blood-red buttons and a sash wrapped around their waist. Horns sprouted out from their head and two sets of fangs peek out of their lips. They look holy, but at the same time appear ironically demonic. Also, they’re nearly transparent. “I have done what you’ve asked, yet here you are being ungrateful.” After his fingers comb his hair and he sighs, he bows. “I am The Speaker of a once-great society that helped millions with their knowledge, but in the end, we were thanked with desecration.”</p><p>
“I’m sorry to hear about this. I truly am, but we don’t have time.”</p><p>
“Time and time again I am proven that the living is impatient. I have already gotten word why you two have come to me and yes I do know how to bring someone back to life. However, it comes with a cost.”</p><p>
“What do you mean by cost?”</p><p>
“The woman you wish to bring back doesn’t have a body to go to. So, someone from the living must exchange their body in return.”</p><p>
“What?”</p><p>
“What are they saying?”</p><p>
"We need someone to give up their body for your sister to be brought back because she doesn’t have a body to return to.” Saamuki doesn’t respond. So, I turn my attention back to The Speaker. “Can’t we just put the soul into a machine? Like a spaceship for instance.”</p><p>
“You can try if you want to waste your time. It’ll be like forcing a cube in a triangular hole. You’d have a better time placing her in a potted plant.”</p><p>
I was about to say something, but Saamuki opens her mouth to offer, “I’ll do it. I’ll give my body up.”</p><p>
“Saamuki, what do you think you’re doing?”</p><p>
“There’s no other choice. I have to give up my body for my sister. It’s the least I could do for her.”</p><p>
“No, this isn’t the least you could do for her. This isn’t even the most. Saamuki, do you even hear yourself? You’re giving your life away. What about Mikrovos? You’re just going to leave him behind?”</p><p>
“Yes, I am.”</p><p>
“Saa-”</p><p>
“I am because I already left him behind and now look what’s happened because of it. I left my sister behind and now look where we are. I have to do this.”</p><p>
The Speaker smiles and moves their hand in front Saamuki. I didn’t like that smile. It told me that there’s something off about The Speaker. I’m about to swat her hand away from The Speaker, but the door slides open and reveals a surprised and slowly angering Cabelo. Flames are shot towards Saamuki. As stupid as it was, but I’m not new to stupidity, I shield Saamuki from it. She screams and I do too. I fall to my knees and watch my body begin to heal from the burns. Still, it hurts. I force myself back up and I swing the staff at Cabelo who’s charging towards us. He is thrown into the air and I think his back slams against a wall. As he gets back up, I ready myself for the fight ahead.</p><p>
I thought I was ready, but with Cabelo suddenly appearing in front of me and swinging his fist into my gut he sends me flying. I hit the ceiling and then a wall. Getting up, I can hear a few of my ribs have cracked. Him getting all too close to Saamuki and The Speaker, both of which have alarmingly glowing blue eyes, I force myself up and throw the staff once again at him. He catches it in his hand and as he prides himself at my facial expression, I send my fist at him. It goes right through him. The smell of burning flesh hits my nose. It’s my flesh. My arm smolders right before my eyes. I scream as the flesh on the arm slowly tears and melts away. Again Cabelo is entertained by my pain. Through his smirk and as painful as it is, I manage to fling my hand out of him and rip the staff out of his grip with both my hands. He doesn’t have time to react. At that moment I became too fast for him as I saw all the dastardly people that have used that same type of smirk standing in front of me. I move the staff back. With venting rage, I shout as I’m about to thrust it into him, but I’m not fast enough as a blue beam of light beats me to it.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0025"><h2>25. Chapter 25</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cabelo’s hand trembled above the gaping hole that now lied in his chest as his feet shuffled while trying to inch towards us. Looking behind me, as I lowered the staff, I see Saamuki, who now is wearing The Speaker’s outfit, alone in the air with glowing blue eyes and blood dripping down from them. Both of her hands, which now have glowing blue circles and various alien symbols surrounding each, are raised. I rub my eyes, but the image of the frightening figure that is Saamuki still floats before me. Turning back around, in shock, I see Cabelo has taken a knee. His body tries to reform the piece of his chest that’s been blasted out of him. Small strings of fire wiggle and try to connect, but once they touch they sizzle and retract. With a cough, Cabelo shouts, “After all, I’ve done for you, you wretched whore, this is how you repay me?”</p><p>
Along with Saamuki’s soft, comforting voice is the threatening, harsh voice that is The Speaker’s voice. Both remark, “For years you have abused me. For years you have used me. It is finally time you are punished for your sins against us and many others.” With that, she sets down on the floor. It was as delicate as a butterfly settling down on a flower on a cool summer’s day. Then, before I could blink, she bolts towards the basically defeated Cabelo. Cabelo strikes, but Saamuki catches it in one hand and thrusts her glowing fist into him with the other. He gags. As Cabelo tries fighting free, she removes the fist and then proceeds to repeatedly jab it into him and each time she did a part of him disintegrated. She continues it until he falls to the floor and when he does she slams her foot onto his face, crushing him further the louder he begged for mercy.</p><p>
Cabelo is a shitty guy, but this is too much. This is too cruel for anyone, but the look on Saamuki’s face told me she was enjoying every moment of this. In just seconds she became like those who I’ve opposed. She became a monster. So, I butted in with my staff now raised just an inch from her neck. “That’s enough!”</p><p>
She stopped. She took her foot off of what was once the man she feared, but she didn’t turn around. She just laughed. No, that’s not Saamuki. That sickening laughter wasn’t hers. It’s The Speaker’s laughter. “Child, what do you think you’re doing?”</p><p>
“Get out of my friend’s body. Now,” I demanded as I tightened my sweaty grip on the staff.</p><p>
“You wish to prevent my vengeance,”  The Speaker turns away from the nearly unconscious Cabelo to look at me, “He’s toyed with me, lied to me, and many others. Justice has long been overdue.”</p><p>
“What you’re doing isn’t justice. It’s immoral. It’s beyond cruel.”</p><p>
“The universe is filled with cruelty, child. The difference here is my side in the story. Now put that down or I’ll make you join this sinful man’s carcass.”</p><p>
“Not until you give Saamuki’s body back to her.”</p><p>
“As you wish, child.” A heartbeat. No, not even a heartbeat. The Speaker was in front of me, but the next thing I know is that my back is colliding with the wall for the second time. I spit out something. Saliva? Blood? All I know is that it’s dripping out of my mouth. Hitting the floor, The Speaker appears in front of me once again. I swing the staff, but they dodge and kick me right across my face. Fallen back, they pick me up by the collar of Saamuki’s jacket. “Saamuki says you’ve been through so much, yet here you are barely able to fight someone that’s not even trying.”</p><p>
The Speaker digs Saamuki’s hand into me. For a split second, I think I saw Saamuki through The Speaker’s eyes. Gasping and vision fading, my eyes dart around the room until they land on Cabelo who’s now able to stand up, but he’s still barely conscious. While he’s wobbling from side to side, Saamuki screams, causing The Speaker to let me go and cover their ears. The glow of their eyes begins to fade.</p><p>
I clutch my gut, suppressing the blood, as I try to stand back up. “Fight them, Saamuki. You have to fight them. Please, for me. For everyone. For Mikrovos.”</p><p>
As the two of them remain on Saamuki’s knees, Cabelo hurls a piece of his coal, which goes right through Saamuki’s left arm. She grabs the wound and turns around to Cabelo.</p><p>
“Speaker, this fight is between you and me. Leave her out of this.”</p><p>
“I can’t do that, Cabelo. You lied to me. You kept it away from me. My people, Cabelo.”</p><p>
“I’m sorry.” I witnessed a new side of Cabelo. I witnessed a softer, gentler side of Cabelo. I saw a real person. Cabelo for once was tender.</p><p>
“Sorry?” The Speaker gets up and removes Saamuki’s hand from the wound. That glow masks Saamuki’s eyes once again. Blue flames engulf their hands as well. Saamuki’s blood drips down into the flames, turning into purple smoke when they touch. “Sorry is only said for those that are scared of taking fault. Sorry is a poorly worded excuse. My people have been violated and turned into slaves. Nearly two millennia have passed, yet my people can not rest. No amount of sorrow can fix that which you hid from me for years. I could’ve done something. I always felt something was wrong. I always knew something was off about you, but here I am letting the liar continue to live. Well, no longer will I make that mistake.”</p><p>
The force between The Speaker’s blue beam of light smashing into Cabelo’s stream of flames slammed me against the wall for the third time. Everything around me began to shake and I could hear the walls around us crack. As I tried covering my eyes from the blinding light, I caught a glimpse of Cabelo’s feet sliding towards the hallway as The Speaker’s feet marched towards him. It was only a matter of time before The Speaker killed Cabelo and came after me next if the walls didn’t collapse in on us first. The sheer strength of this struggle made it difficult to even open my mouth, but I tried forcing myself to. Through gritted teeth, I repeat the advice Ojos told me as best I could, “We’re not perfect, Speaker. We all have fucked up, but this won’t fix them.”</p><p>
As The Speaker continued towards Cabelo, “Be quiet, child.”</p><p>
“I’d like to see Cabelo punished as much as you, maybe a little less, but you’re wasting your time. He didn’t desecrate your people. Someone else did. Stop this, Speaker. Don’t let your pain get the better of you.”</p><p>
“You don’t know what it’s like having someone you’ve known for years turn out to be someone other than the person you grew to love.”</p><p>
“I-I don’t. I thought I did, but what if I did? I’d seek to murder them? The years, the feelings, are still there. They still happened.”</p><p>
“And I wish they didn’t because I wouldn’t be feeling this right now. I forgave him for all the times he’s touched others. I forgave him for so much more, but he knew how I felt about my people, and yet he refused to tell me.”</p><p>
Cabelo finally spoke up, “I’m sorry for everything, my love. I know nothing I can say now will make you forgive me for everything I’ve done to you. I’ve hurt you more than I should’ve because of my greed, but I hid you from the knowledge that your people were being used because I knew how you’d react when you’d find out. I don’t want you to fade from existence, Speaker, because I love you.”</p><p>
That was the catalyst. Cabelo fell to his knees and panted. On the other hand, The Speaker continued towards him as if all of that was a walk in the park. The Speaker didn’t even break a sweat. Because of that, I had awe written all over my face as I used my staff to help me back up.</p><p>
Their lover looked up at them. The Speaker crouched down, which Cabelo’s head followed. Then, the ghost of a people long forgotten to time slaps Cabelo. Cabelo falls face first. Before Cabelo can ask for the reasoning behind this, “I’m going to free my people. If that means my final death will come out of it then so be it, but whether that does or doesn’t happen doesn’t change my feelings towards you. We’re through. Goodbye, Cabelo.” Leaving their ex-lover to come to terms with their breakup, they turn to me. “I will remain in Saamuki’s body until I can achieve my goal. However, I’ll step down. I’ll give her back primary control of her body, but I will lend her assistance when she needs it.”</p><p>
“Thank you, I guess, but what happened to the whole thing about bringing back her sister?”</p><p>
“While I know how to bring her sister back, I don’t know where she is, but I have a feeling that wherever she is my people are there too,” they press two fingers against Saamuki’s nose as the glow around their eyes fades, “Your friend’s thoughts are rampant. They’re giving me a headache. The living continues to remind me of their impatience. Until we speak again, child.” The Speaker bows Saamuki’s body.</p><p>
By the look in Saamuki’s eyes, as they’re no longer glowing, she’s back in control. Although, she faints. Before she can hit the ground I catch her. She, as I’m now learning, weighs more than she looks. It was a workout to get her upright and move her right arm over my shoulders.</p><p>
As I head towards the door, I flinch seeing Cabelo get up in the corner of my eye. So, I clutch the staff. I thought I was about to fight with Saamuki weighing me down, but I’m thankfully proven wrong because he asks me, “Please, promise me you’ll take care of them.”</p><p>
“Sorry, but I’m really bad at keeping promises.”</p><p>
“I’m not surprised about that, but merely promising it is enough for me.”</p><p>
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”</p><p>
He’s looking at me with a serious, sympathetic look, but I refuse to meet his eyes. “The ones that desecrated The Speaker’s people have power much beyond mine and The Speaker. The Lords of the Universe’s power isn’t anything anyone can comprehend. No one has and no one will ever have the power to even rival them. So, unless you want a death wish then I beg for you to avoid them at all costs.”</p><p>
Terror? Some sort of indifference? It’s definitely not a feeling of excitement if Cabelo needs to give me advice, especially if he has to beg for me to listen to it. It’s a feeling I can’t describe, but I respond with coldness, “What’s the fastest route out of here?”</p><p>
In the corner of my eye, as I sat in her chair, she laid unconscious. I twiddled my fingers and glanced now and then at her, making sure she’s breathing. It felt like hours had passed, but it was probably just a few minutes. As anxious as I am, I’m still amazed that I was able to walk her to the spaceship without tripping or toppling over, especially in my condition. Speaking of it, I remove the now bloodied jacket with the hole The Speaker ripped open. I inspect my abdomen. A big splotch of my blood is all that’s left of the wound. “What’s happened to me,” I asked out loud.</p><p>
She coughs awake. I move towards her, but she brushes me away as she lets out several more coughs until she’s able to stand on her own. Well, she’s sort of able to stand on her own because once she does her knees give in and she has to grip her chair to keep standing. I offer to give her chair back to her. Saamuki waves off my attempts until she gives in and sits down. We make eye contact with each other and she smiles but grits her teeth soon after. While I am healed of my wounds she has yet to heal. She grips the hole Cabelo made and just like The Speaker promised he assists her. Saamuki lets out a scream as a blue light encircles her hand, which causes the flesh underneath to sizzle. Again I try to help her, but she motions me away. Her skin burns until she lets go. When she does, I see that her arm has healed. Then, after a brief, awkward silence, she turns to me, “We have to find, Syco.”</p><p>
I should be excited. This was what I wanted to hear, but it just makes me queasy.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0026"><h2>26. Chapter 26</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>With the fate of the universe resting in her hands, an unnamed Space Explorer and Saamuki first must find Syco to get back their friends.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Chapters 26 -30 are part 6</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Surrounding the cliff are trees with bluish trunks, for the most part, as some have sprouted out two and a thick and seemingly fluffy purple crown. Laying just about a foot below their leaves are large, orange spores that look as if they’re the size of my head. If I were outside the ship and uncomfortably closer I have a feeling they would actually be three times bigger. The sea of purple reminds me of the beach a couple of miles away from here, below the cliff and encased in the place that was once Saamuki’s prison. Just like then I pick up the sand and watch each grain drop and eventually pile into a small mountain below me. Well, I didn’t actually do it considering the howling metal, as wind thrashed against it, encasing me. I imagined I did. I realized how truly short and quick time is. Also, how one thing can change everything. So, that’s when I look up into the blackness above that’s slowly being engulfed by daylight. I do so because I know some of the players. I could name them, but I’ll never get to know all of them. The floating, bobbing alien creature who looked like a jellyfish seen in the corner of my eye reinforces that frustrating conclusion.</p><p>
“Now I could use your chip.” I nearly forgot Saamuki is talking. I actually forgot about my chip until she reminded me. I was going to completely forget about the former as I get brief, yet painful flashes of the bumpy relationship between the tiny computer clutching the back of my neck and me. “I know just about everything about the mechanical world, but the organic one is something I’ve barely scratched the surface of. Combining both and having me tap into their child is essentially a death wish. I don’t know much about Syco. I’ve only seen him through pictures and heard him through your point of view, but I don’t plan to ever risk anyone’s life like that. However, we’re running out of time. I have no idea what the address of his ship could be,” she rambled in one breath while stroking her chin.</p><p>
“What do you mean by address? Do you mean ship number? When I was a Space Explorer, all the ships came with ship numbers. They were easier to track that way, or at least I think they did. Those memories are hazy,” I look away from her before continuing, “but how about the ship? Couldn’t you do something with the ship instead?”</p><p>
She catches her breath before replying, “I could say ship number, but that’s not an accurate label. Ship addresses come with the ship’s number, type of ship, coordinate, and most importantly resonance. Each ship has a different resonance. The address of his ship is embedded into your chip. It’s twice in there now, but your statement wasn’t completely wrong. I can’t blame you for that.”</p><p>
“Then, The Speaker, have they said anything?”</p><p>
“No, they’ve gone completely silent.” I flinched when she suddenly bent forward and slammed her fists against the arms of her chair. One of her eyes and the corner of her lips twitched. Noticing my fright, she laid back down and took another breath. Her voice is much lower. It’s almost a whisper when she explains, “I’m sorry, but it’s just that why did it have to be a Space Pirate commander? Why does it always have to be a Space Pirate that outsmarts me? I could only guess what Syco’s planning for the universe and especially for our friends, but it’ll only be a guess. Syco is the only one that knows the answer to my questions, obviously, he does. Even if I were to get the address what’s stopping him from killing us on the spot?”</p><p>
“No, Syco wouldn’t do that. I know that sounds weird coming from my mouth. It was my fault for basically walking into a warzone that got you into this situation and got me this deep. I know that, but if Syco wanted us and especially me dead then we would be. For how little I’ve gotten to know him I’ve come to understand that he’s cunning. This is too big of a hole in what we’re inching towards to conclude.”</p><p>
“He’s let you go this far, but he’s tried to kill you. Why the hypocrisy?”</p><p>
“That’s the thing. He’s tried to even when it wasn’t him physically doing it. Back at his ship when he found out I was trying to kill him with Khavas he didn’t kill me. He could’ve killed me. I was an easy target. Then, when he had Khavas under his control he stopped him. Again, he could’ve let the job be finished right then and there. Now when he had the others pursue me Skeema regained control for a split second. Syco knows how his people work. He’s been working with them. I don’t know exactly why, but I’m important to him and whatever he’s planning. He wouldn’t kill me. At the very least he doesn’t plan to anytime soon.”</p><p>
Her elbows are perpendicular to the arms of her chair. Her hands are folded and her head is bowed, pressed up against them, as her eyebrows crease close to one another and her eyes are shut. She takes a moment to ponder. The blueish glow from the screen emphasizes her expression. In that time I see that familiar shadow walk towards the window that’s become just about everyone’s spot to watch the infinitely expanding outer space. I follow it and once it’s able to press its hands against the window sill and move its head upwards towards the glowing, gigantic, and ironically heavenly bodies above, it fades out of sight.</p><p>
“I think I know a way where we can get the address without putting you in harm's way and even not alert Syco and his crew about what we’re doing, but I still owe him even when it’s been several years since the last time we saw each other.”</p><p>
“What could you possibly owe whoever you’re talking about for?”</p><p>
“Promise me that what I’m about to tell you remains between the two of us. That means not telling Ashely, and especially Mikrovos.”</p><p>
If we get to see either of them again at this rate. The real them I mean. Them without mind control I mean. It’s a terrible thing to think about. It hurts me thinking about that, but it’s slowly becoming true. Sure, there’s a strong possibility Syco doesn’t plan to kill them or use them to kill me. It’s only a matter of time before my intuition about Syco proves to be wrong, but I don’t tell her any of this. I nod instead.</p><p>
“No, promise me. Please say it. I can’t tell you if you can’t.”</p><p>
Her watery eyes shut down any hesitation I could’ve been feeling. “I promise, Saamuki. I won’t tell either of them. I won’t tell anyone.”</p><p>
“It,” she gulps, “She was Skeema’s kid.” She pressed her hands against her stomach.</p><p>
“What?” Again, it’s all I can say besides making a face or cuss out loud. Both of which have an unconscious intent of making it seem like I now view her as batshit crazy.</p><p>
“It’s the reason Skeema became one of my most prominent clients. You should’ve seen his face when I told him. He was so happy that he was going to be a father, but it was an accident. We didn’t plan to, but that’s why I had to do it. I wasn’t ready. I was especially not ready to tell Cabelo. How could I ever be ready for that? It hurt him,” she began to sob, “It hurt me for weeks. It still hurts. Lords, I’m so sorry for giving you all of this again. Does that make me a bad friend? Does this make me a terrible person?”</p><p>
With everything that’s happened, I’ll never truly understand what it’s like to see a family member die. I don’t think I’ll ever get to see my child die. Hell, I don’t think I want children. If I did I don’t think I can have one right now. I wonder if my previous self wanted one. I wonder what my old self was like. I wonder what she would’ve thought of at this moment. I know she wasn’t perfect, but she wasn’t this fucked up. She wasn’t me. What would she have done in my place?</p><p>
I rested her tearful self on my chest as I patted the back of her head. She, in turn, gripped my shirt with shaky hands. “No, of course, it doesn’t. You did what you thought was the right thing to do, Saamuki. No, what you had to, but it’s all over now,” I whispered to her.</p><p>
We held each other for who knows how long. It might’ve been minutes. It could’ve been hours. While impossible it still could’ve been an entire day. How long we held each other for is not what matters. What does matter is that Saamuki is okay now. I just wish I could say that about myself.</p><p>
As per usual, I’m sitting on the window sill watching the stars fly past us. My hand rests on the cold glass. The glass is about seven inches thick. It’s what’s keeping me away from being sucked up into the chasm that is outer space, yet I can still feel it. I can still feel space’s coldness. “I know I’ve said this already, but I really am sorry.”</p><p>
Her back is facing her chair and her eyes are facing the windshield. She’s focused on steering us to where only she knows, but I act like I’m being scolded. I imagine where her gaze would’ve been if she was standing behind me and her reflection in front of me. In her place is a darkened, blurry version of me. That image isn’t new to me.</p><p>
“As I said earlier, you did what you had to.”</p><p>
The two of us were never close. We’re in between acquaintances and friends since we know parts of each other no one else knows, but at the same time aren’t able to do much with that information. Maybe we’re friends since we’ve seen each other at our lows. Maybe I’m afraid to label her as my friend because everyone I’ve ever gotten close with has gotten hurt. That’s why it was quiet the rest of the way to a planet I’ve been to before.</p><p>
Like last time the planet is hot and remains to be a planet-sized sandbox. Unlike last time, besides for the costume change, as I’m wearing the worn and blood-smelling jacket because I’m unable to change back into a Talten but able to transform the crown into a staff and Saamuki taking Mikrovos’ place, a long, twisted torch was placed in the center of the market’s entrance. Also, unlike last time the market is nearly empty. For the handful that is here, they’re as gloomy as the people from Ojos’ city. They just look duller, which is like an oxymoron because of how bright this planet is. I try to figure out what’s happened within the months since my sudden departure from here by using my newly reformed crown, but I’m only able to catch snippets. Everyone here either uses one-worded replies or three worded sentences. I bury down my curiosity as I know I’m not going to get anything at this rate and return my focus to following Saamuki. Although, I already know where she’s heading.</p><p>
The strip club has been torn apart. Literally. All but one of the tables has been flipped over. The one table had been punctured into some of the floorboards. Some of the lights that had once been nearly seizure-inducing have shattered onto the floor. We try to maneuver ourselves away from the shattered glass and make our way to the bar, past the stripper smoking a high-tech cigarette with a wad of cash tucked between the left strap of her underwear. Leaning against the bar with my eyes following the few patrons and workers and Saamuki facing the bartender, she asks, “What happened here?”</p><p>
The bartender’s voice is so deep it causes my insides to shake. I didn’t get a good glimpse of him, but I imagine him to be about Mikrovos’ height with slick hair and a well-combed beard. “Two words: Space Pirate. I think it was the old commander of the Tauvoxes. Lots of flashing. Couldn’t really catch important details.”</p><p>
At that, I come to terms with how The Commander made his grand entrance, as I hear the bartender put down a glass.</p><p>
“Is Sakhra okay? Where is he?”</p><p>
“He’s fine. Only got a few scratches. A bruise on his eye. He caused about half of the damages, but if you’re asking about him after all this time this must be important. Isn’t it, Saamuki?”</p><p>
Saamuki doesn’t reply.</p><p>
“Oh, it is. Wouldn’t it be a real shame if the last reason you were looking for him were to get out?”</p><p>
“I don’t have the time right now. Just tell me where he is and the next time you ask for my services I won’t charge you.”</p><p>
“Then, it truly must be really important. Cabelo is such a stingy old man. It’s every single cent for him. We shake on it and Sakhra’s whereabouts are as good as yours.” I assume they shake without any hesitation from Saamuki because he quickly continues, “He’s up north.”</p><p>
“Up north? Why there?” Guessing by how much Saamuki’s voice went up, whatever is lying up north can’t be good. Turning around to her pale face I see I didn’t jump the shark with my conclusion.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0027"><h2>27. Chapter 27</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A swig of alcohol later and Saamuki throws the curtains open and storms out of there with me trying to catch up. Somehow with being both tipsy and shorter than me she’s able to make quite a distance. As I try to catch my breath in front of the pacing Saamuki, I curiously pressed, “What’s up north?”</p><p>
It takes her a moment to answer, either because she faded me out or that she’s no longer sober, “Big festival. Definitely not for me. Explains why this planet has become a ghost planet.”</p><p>
“But Sakhra is there. Isn’t he? We have to go.”</p><p>
“I know. I know we do, but why did this have to happen today? Ugh. Okay. Let me just compose myself. Give me a moment.” A few, long breaths and her talking to herself, a long awkward moment of me looking at the sand around us, and she’s leading me to where the festival is. It was several lengthy, empty roads and alleyways, and me having to hold my breath because three of them were a tight squeeze. At least the trip wasn’t as long as the labyrinth underneath Cabelo’s hotel and I had actual scenery rather than dusty, muddy bricks with some sort of greenish substance. They were structures. They were buildings. They were homes. It was interesting to see how these people lived because as I said before they are just like anyone else. They lived like how any other person would live in these conditions. Some homes were five-stories. Most were either one- or two-stories. Each held a different shape. There were ones with a round roof, others had the classic triangular roof and some were super creative by going the extra mile of concave roofs. Each held a different personality that probably represented their owners. All were made out of a mixture of rock and mud. By the time we reached the outskirts of the town, we were greeted by the mouth of a small cave that sloped downward at about a forty-five-degree angle. Swinging the staff across the gaping darkness, I see another hole shooting straight down. “It’s up north then down south,” I commented.</p><p>
She turns to me, revealing a blush, and laughs. Saamuki laughs like it’s actually funny. Like it’s the best joke she’s ever heard before. I’m not a comedian as I have a poor sense of humor, so I know it wasn’t funny at all. She wipes away her tears of joy before nudging me to head in with her.</p><p>
The ladder wasn’t cold. It didn’t feel like it was never going to end, but I still struggled to keep my grip because of all the dirt and mud sticking onto it. By the time we hop off, I note the lanterns hanging along the walls of the cave and the stream, which has a golden glow because of the lights above, between us as I shake off the mess on my hands. That feeling I always get when something bad is about to happen hits me. I don’t hesitate to point the staff in front of me, but Saamuki doesn’t hesitate to go on ahead. I follow her with my grip tightened with a bit of hesitation in my footsteps.</p><p>
When Saamuki said big she really meant big. It was packed. It was as if twice as many people who were usually at the flea market were all in here, stuffed in the cave. Although, calling it a festival is an understatement. You’d assume it would be a celebration filled with merriment like laughter and smiles, but nope. Everyone in here is unusually, eerily quiet with their heads down underneath a thick, black robe. We were the outliers, but no one paid any mind to us. They remained pointed forward. Pointed forward at what I had no idea. The tallest seemed to be standing in the back, unintentionally making an unwavering wall. Saamuki grumbles and looks around. She then takes my hand and leads me to one of the only open spots in this place. “This will take a bit,” she explained to me.</p><p>
Because of all the crampedness, it felt like a sauna. I tugged my collar, hoping some cold air would shimmy down underneath and cool my sweating chest. It did, but not as much as I hoped.</p><p>
A figure stepped onto a makeshift podium. “It’s been six months since we placed that torch. It’s been six months since her murder. She was killed by a Space Pirate. She was one of our own. No, she was one of the greatest among us, yet they’ve forgotten about her.” Getting who he was talking about, I take a glance at the lip-biting Saamuki. “Brothers and Sisters, they have let us live, or so they would like us to believe. They claim it’s for balance. Well, that balance is shifting. It’s becoming clear that they’re no longer needed. It is only a matter of time before the Lords come looking for our children, our lovers, and ourselves. They’re killing us off one by one, yet it is only now we take notice. For centuries we have been their lackeys, their slaves. We’ve always done their dirty work. We never questioned once because we were blinded by the gifts, the freedom. No longer shall we live this way. No longer shall we let them control us. True freedom is not one built on fear. Brothers and sisters, it is time we rise. The time is now. There is no better time than now. Their most precious pets are at war with each other as we speak.”</p><p>
“Brother, they will listen to us for some things, but not for this. They will massacre all of us within a blink of an eye,” a voice from the crowd replied.</p><p>
“Sister, what are rulers without followers? A hundred of us they will slaughter without a thought, but thousands of us is a different story. One voice is a whisper. Ten voices is a mutter. A hundred is heard, but not listened to. A thousand is a call to action.”</p><p>
Another voice from the crowd countered, “Even if we wanted to, brother, we don’t have the supplies to stage such a theatrical war and we especially don’t have the manpower. Most of us are well over the age of action. This includes you, brother. Besides, we can’t just leave our children unattended if all goes south.”</p><p>
“That is true, brother, but that’s why I ask for all of you to bury down your pride and seek the help of the public. Billions of voices can not be unheard. Brothers and sisters, it is time we act before it’s too late. They are feared because we let them be feared. We feed into the power they have, but power is a belief. It cannot be touched, but it can be broken. You and many others in this room know that is true.”</p><p>
A wave of whispers and hushes filled the room. A voice broke through the sound with a shout. Anger then erupted. Arguments had awakened. Then, as quickly as it came it all quieted. Silence filled the room. A single, familiar-looking hand is then raised. Everyone around eyed him. The owner of the hand had spoken, “I will join the cause that affects all of us, brother. I stand by your offer without any hesitation.”</p><p>
“Classic Sakhra,” Saamuki mumbled with a smirk and a still blushing face.</p><p>
Of course, when one person confidently makes their voice heard then others are bound to join in. One by one everyone in the room is recruited. The last one to raise their hand, with what I think is an eye roll and an exaggerated swinging of his arm, is the man that tried deterring the announcer.</p><p>
The announcer started again, “With that settled, let us drink.” Everyone cheered and Saamuki turned around and covered her ears. Right when I’m about to question what had gotten her so disgusted with what’s just a town hall meeting, two cloaked figures threw a tied up, whimpering body in front of the announcer. The body couldn’t be any younger than the other prisoner on the Trauvox ship. Whoever this new character is clearly has seen war. They’re wearing a ripped, navy blue uniform and a tad of white with bloodstains. Purple spots have grown over where blood has been splattered. What was once pure white has now turned into a pinkish handkerchief. Their puffy pants, which are mostly tucked into their knee-high, dark brown boots, have battle scars of their own. Tears and scratches have made their name on them as well. The announcer bends down. “Speak, child. Let your voice be heard,” he continued.</p><p>
The soldier doesn’t even take a glance at the man above him. Instead, they try to struggle free. Clearly, they’re outnumbered. If they were to loosen the rope tying them down just enough for at least one of their arms to be free they’d be welcomed to an onslaught of getting their ass beat by hundreds. They’re weaponless, I need to add. I don’t know what sort of training they’ve gone through, but it didn’t train their common sense. Maybe the type of training they went through suppressed it to outweigh honor. Maybe they’d rather die fighting than be at the announcer's mercy. Maybe it’s just the youth talking.</p><p>
Because they failed to answer, the announcer gets up and slams his foot into the soldier’s chest. I hear the sounds of ribs cracking as the soldier cries and spits out blood. My knuckles turned white because of how tight my grip on the staff has become. I try fighting myself. I want to go and help him. It sickened me seeing this type of excessive treatment, but at the same time, I know that doing so would probably get me to wind up like him. Saamuki tells me, “I know, but it’ll be all over soon. Just wait.”</p><p>
He’s beaten—bloody nose and teeth, a split lip, and twitching hands. He stammers out as his collar is about to give in from underneath the clutch of the announcer’s hand, “B-Battalion five. I’m from Battalion five of Quadrant Forty. I’m just a private. P-Please, have mercy.”</p><p>
With that, the collar gives in. The private falls with a hard thud. Again, the announcer lowers. This time the private flinches when he speaks. “Ah, now was that so hard?” The beaten, young soldier shakes his head. “Good, but, unfortunately, it took you this long for you to crack. Most last far longer. One lasted a whole week. His lips remained shut even as we ripped each of his nails. Although, and of course, I didn’t beat him for every second that week. Even we get tired of torturing, but you’re just a private. Still, you’ve given your life to the Lords and that means you represent fascism.”</p><p>
“If you want intel I don’t have any. They don’t tell us anything.”</p><p>
“Yes, I already know, but that’s not why you’re here before us. Also, I didn’t ask you to speak.” The announcer slaps the soldier right across his face. A tooth is shot out and rolls off the podium and into the crowd. “You’re here to honor a friend’s six month death anniversary.”</p><p>
His torturer moves his hand into his cloak and pierces a dagger into the soldier's stomach. Forcing the blade to go right through the soldier, the soldier gags and starts shaking. Then, he returns to screaming when the weapon is slid upwards. When my eyes meet with his guts and especially a beating heart, that’s when I gag. As blood is sprayed out and his organs topple to the floor, the announcer kicks him into the crowd. They pile on top of him and in the most horrific way to die they feast on the barely living, young man. Saamuki throws up with her back still turned to what now appears to be a cult. The announcer licks the soldier’s blood off of his hands and then his weapon as his followers rip right through and consume the private. It’s as if they haven’t eaten in days. It’s as if they’re wild animals rather than people. My insides are empty, yet I feel like I still have something to puke up. At least it didn’t last for long, but I, unfortunately, learned why Saamuki was so hesitant to come here.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0028"><h2>28. Chapter 28</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Flicking the drop of a mixture of saliva and lunch sitting on the edge of my bottom lip, but sadly not able to flick off the sounds of the snapping of bones and ripping of flesh, I’m met with lightheadedness and the resting of my back against a stalagmite. Trying to digest what just happened, my quivering hand rests less than an inch above my clattering teeth. If I were to bite the hand maybe I’d wake up in a cold sweat on a bed as the feeling of relief trickled up my body because I was still on Earth, which meant that all of this is just some sick nightmare. I was about to do it, but Saamuki motions me to follow her. I take a step and nearly fall face-first into the yellow-green, warm soup I just poured out on the floor, but Saamuki thankfully catches me before I could. For someone basically drunk she seems to be the more stable out of the two of us, out of the sober me. Holding my hand, she leads me and pushes past what was once the ravenous crowd. In the process with my head still down, I try to look away from the pool of blood, half an eyeball, and tooth, while not tripping on any of them or anyone as they move. A minute ago they were primal but now they’re civilized because they made room for us, two strangers who’ve crashed their freaky ceremony, without question.</p>
<p>
We’re in front of the bodyguard made out of stone, Sakhra. Raising his head while wiping away leftovers of the private, he raises his eyebrows. “Saamuki?” Saamuki doesn’t answer. She grabs his other hand and leads him towards the exit of the cave. “Saamuki, what are you doing here? Where are you taking me? We’re in the middle of-”</p>
<p>
Instead of Saamuki answering, the announcer calls out to her. She stops, so the two of us stop as well. “Saamuki, sister of our all-seeing eye? Here? Before us? We are honored.” Back facing away from him, I hear the shuffling of his feet. I imagine him taking a knee. He then goes on to continue, “Please, we ask you for your forgiveness for failing to protect and save your late sister. Stay. It’s the least we could do.”</p>
<p>
I’m not sure if she did it to both of her hands or just the one wrapped around mine, but I feel it twitch. The gold from above shimmers onto her face, but I’m unable to read it. Saamuki doesn’t budge. She doesn’t turn to face him when she finally speaks out, “She was the only one I had left in this universe. She was the only family I had left. She was my sister. She was my only friend for a long time,” she hiccups, “You never knew her. You knew a completely different person. Nothing you can ever do or say can ever bring back the woman I knew. I don’t need your sorrow, but if you have the decency I ask for you to stop using her name for your game. We’re leaving now.”</p>
<p>
It was too quiet when we got there, but it was somehow even quieter after Saamuki’s speech. The two of us trailed beside her awkwardly. Sakhra kept his head down rather than upright to continue pushing for answers and as for me my eyes just followed the now red stream. The revulsion that came with it was better than getting pelted by the tension that vibrated out of Saamuki. It was way better being distracted by it than giving in to the weird feeling hitting the back of my neck as well, which caused the hairs around the chip to stand. It was as if someone was watching us. By this point, I knew better to let the feeling control me, but I couldn’t keep fighting forever. With the other two being first to go up the ladder and disappear into the shadows encasing it, I became the last. When I touched its bars, I had to turn around. Meeting with a Watcher standing at the far end I rushed up that ladder, going three at a time. Right when Saamuki sets her foot down, I clambered right next to her. Her ongoing redness, which has faded quite a bit, gives me a look. I brush off her worry as best I could, but I know she doesn’t buy into it. She doesn’t pursue answers. Saamuki isn’t the one to speak if it means it’ll hurt others. I mean the Saamuki when she’s sober. Still, if she didn’t see me as strange yet she definitely does now.</p>
<p>
What would I tell her? I saw a Watcher, one of the most powerful snitches in the universe, for the third time in what I think should amount to a day and a half. Would I then tell her the second time I saw one was when she was in the same room as me? It was after my rough introduction and what was probably your last encounter with Lucy because of me, remember Saamuki? It’s the reason I suddenly turned around then. You two were there in the same room as it. Lucy was right next to it, but neither of you saw it. The first time I saw one of them was in the middle of a city. The one where I met Ojos, who was once your late sister’s rival. Lots of people were there. No one seemed to see it then too. I’m the only one able to see them. I don’t know why. I just do. It sounds crazy. I probably am crazy, but please believe me because I’m telling the truth.</p>
<p>
Of course, I don’t tell her any of that. I just stand next to her as she orders the addition to our party, “I’ll answer everything. Just take us to your place first.”</p>
<p>
Willingly he does. It was a big circle. We headed out of the town to get to him and now we’re heading back into the town to get to the others. For his place, he chose the minimalist route. No, it was the bare minimum. Sakhra’s house is in the shape of a cube. Two windows face the front and a third would’ve sat as the roof, but instead, it’s just a big hole. No roof. Rocks for furniture and a painting of some faceless, shirtless person flexing is filled with smudges on top of a fireplace. Also, an out of place potted plant.</p>
<p>
Throwing his cloak onto the couch, he heads inside. Before he’s out of sight he requests for us to take off our shoes. We do and then make ourselves at home. We sat next to each other, but failed to make eye contact and without another party, we failed to make any conversation too. Well, until Saamuki tried. “So, how are you?” She stretched out the o’s for an uncomfortable amount of time.</p>
<p>
“Good?”</p>
<p>
“That’s good. Um,” her eyes meet with the painting to her left, “Well, what was your home like?”</p>
<p>
“Not sure,” I shrug, “Ashley didn’t get to that part. Mind wiped, remember?”</p>
<p>
“Right. Yeah. Forgot. Sorry.”</p>
<p>
“It’s fine. Hey, it’s okay to ask what your home was like, right? I mean back on your homeworld,” my eyes wandered around the claustrophobic space around us, “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”</p>
<p>
“Of course. I know, but it’s alright. Been years. Let’s see my memories are a bit fuzzy as it all happened when I was very young, but what I do remember is it had lots of lights and was warm all the time,” she snorts, “I remember one time it was so hot that I told my sister I wanted the heater lowered, so my sister asked my parents in my place. They couldn’t because of some religious mumbo jumbo. They got into this big fight after. It’s funny thinking about it now, but at the time I was scared. Don’t like arguments and I guess I still don’t.” She leans forward as she shakes her head and smirks.</p>
<p>
“Your sister,” I hesitate to see her lips become a straight line before continuing, “she must’ve been something, huh?”</p>
<p>
“My sister,” she hesitates just as long as I had before continuing, “We were like this.” Saamuki moves her index and middle fingers together. “She was brave and always said what was on her mind. She didn’t care what other people would say or think about her. Even when it was frustrating at times I still envied her for that as I was the shy, anxious one. I don’t like making myself known. Just keep to myself when I could. Actually, I’m still like that. There are just parts of people, me especially, that never change,” she finished as she leaned back.</p>
<p>
“And that’s a good thing?”</p>
<p>
She looks at me. The redness on her face is just about gone. She places a hand on one of my knees. Again, her touch is gentle. It’s as tender as a mother comforting their child after getting heartbroken. “It’s okay to not change.”</p>
<p>
Looking away from her and having my eyes instead on the potted plant that’s resting on top of a pile of rocks, I reply, “The question wasn’t about me.”</p>
<p>
“I know I’m not as close with you as the others are, but if something is bothering you then I’d be more than happy to listen. If you want we can talk about it when we get back to the ship.”</p>
<p>
Seeing her reflection on the pot, the look on her face made me feel guilty. So, I crack. “It’s just that you are so good for Mikrovos. Like, well, you both are so mature for your ages. You’re both acting like, um, adults, but for me? I hardly ever. I’m more like a child in an adult’s body.”</p>
<p>
“And that’s bad?”</p>
<p>
Swinging myself back around to look at her with my arms raised, “Yes. Of course, that’s bad. I’m gonna be like what? Thirty in like four years? A twenty-six-year-old doesn’t hijack and kick their commander off their chair just so she can send everyone but her to their deaths. A twenty-six old doesn’t go off running away after an argument with her wife because of pettiness. Ashley called me out on this. Speaking of her and my mentality, I don’t deserve to be wedded to her. I’m her child rather than her wife.”</p>
<p>
“I’m sure Ashley didn’t mean it that way.”</p>
<p>
“And I’m sure she does.” I crossed my arms over my chest, huff, and tried to bury myself into the cold, hard slab of rock angled behind me. Saamuki takes her hand off of me. I take this as what she was talking about a moment ago. Voice lowered and a lot softer, “I’m sorry for raising my voice at you. You and everyone else has been just great. You all are great people and as for me, I’m shit. I treat you all like shit. I don’t deserve any of you. Thank you, though.”</p>
<p>
“I get it. I really do, but none of us are perfect. None of us are remotely mature. We’ve messed up plenty in our lives. I know Skeema has messed up just as much as Mikrovos and I. Just like you we still let our emotions dictate our decisions. Ashely, too I bet, but that’s what makes us all people. I know maturity has a definition in dictionaries. Maybe a couple, but just like any word, it’s not clear cut. I think if you change your perception a bit you can see what I mean.”</p>
<p>
I was about to speak, but Sakhra made his return. This time red paint had been smeared on him in various symbols. I wish the crown above my head helped me read too. “Sorry,” he makes his way to the other couch across from us, “It was hard to get them on my back.”</p>
<p>
“It’s fine,” Saamuki answered.</p>
<p>
“I also am sorry for failing my duties.”</p>
<p>
Before responding she bites her lip. “Also, fine. What’s done is done.”</p>
<p>
“In return for my failure, I will remove what you owe me.”</p>
<p>
“Of course, Sakhra.”</p>
<p>
“Finally, with that out of the way, what are you doing here again? You drank, so that means this mustn’t be about another termination.”</p>
<p>
“No, one was plenty. How good is your forcefield? How well is it against second party signals?”</p>
<p>
“You should know better than anyone how well it works. You were there when I built it, but it’s not on right now. Why?”</p>
<p>
“And you’re still good with cybernetics like no shaky hands and everything there is to know about it is all still up there.” She points and taps the side of her head.</p>
<p>
“Yes. Of course, I still got them. I’m not that old, Saamuki, but why?” To my surprise, Saamuki takes off my hood. “A human? Here?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0029"><h2>29. Chapter 29</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“There’s a computer chip attached to the back of her head and there’s also an address somewhere embedded in it. I want you to find the address without hurting her and the chip sending any signals.”</p><p>
Leaning forward and resting his hands on his thighs, he sternly looks at Saamuki. Saamuki looks back unphased by the change in character. “That’s not too much of a task, but, Saamuki, this is a human. You know that and you also know that her homeworld just got detained. That, of course, should mean all of humanity is being tried as we speak. If they find out one is missing and that she’s in our hands, your hands especially-”</p><p>
“Don’t worry. We’ve been careful, Sakhra.”</p><p>
“I hope for the sake of the two of us you are. For your sister’s sake, I hope so. I don’t have the same obligation towards you as I did with her, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have morals. I’ll do my best. I won’t ask why, but I could only hope it’s the safest route for you.”</p><p>
“I owe you again, Sakhra.”</p><p>
“Let’s hope this is the last time you will.”</p><p>
Another surprise is that Sakhra had things other than rocks, a hyper-realistic painting of what I later learned is of a deceased lover and a random splotch of green in this muddy colored setting that rested between the two couches. He has quilts that depicted what I assume to be ancient history. White-colored beasts breathed out golden flames onto a town. The townspeople reacted by either throwing spears or running away screaming. Interestingly, the former have similar red symbols as the ones Sakhra just painted on. Death is depicted as well. There are symbols off to the side, also similar to the symbols on him, that I assume are explaining in depth what’s happening in the various images. Again, I’m unable to read the alien language. My now rock ally mounted them over the windows and ceiling. That’s not to say he’s a ten-foot giant. He used a ladder for that part. Then, moved aside the couch he was sitting on, which revealed a translucent screen. Some typing and clicks later and he’s walking towards us with the screen and has his eyes on me. Motioning me to turn the other way, which has me to look into Saamuki’s eyes for reassurance, I do so after I get the needed response. Still, that doesn’t stop the quickened pace of my heart. I’m trusting a stranger I’ve only met once before, but even with that instance, I’ve only known this man for an hour. In that hour we haven’t shared any words. It’s only now we’re sharing looks.</p><p>
“This shouldn’t take that,” he interrupts himself as he kneels, “Actually, no. This might take a bit. There’s been some code added.”</p><p>
“Complex code,” Saamuki added.</p><p>
“For the inexperienced, yes. It’s nothing I can’t handle. It’s similar to the type of code used for military personnel. No, actually, it’s much more similar to what Space Pirates use.”</p><p>
“That’s not surprising.”</p><p>
“I’m not going to ask, but it is worrying that you now have a connection with Space Pirates. Well, a deeper connection now. Ah, I got it.”</p><p>
She grabs the screen from him. “That was a lot faster than I expected.”</p><p>
“You’re surprised, yet you came to me? Wait.” Still turned away, I get the sense his face turned pale.</p><p>
In the corner of my eye, I see Saamuki smiling at the screen. I’m not surprised I can’t read any of it.</p><p>
As her eyes move further down the line of alien symbols, her smile fades. “Wait. Why there? Why is he there?” She looks at Sakhra then looks at me as if either of us knows something she doesn’t. She looks at me like she’s expecting me to tell her there are cameras hidden everywhere and I and Sakhra have been planning this prank for weeks. Like she was then expecting our friends to come any minute now with streamers, confetti, and laughter. “Syco is above my dead homeworld.”</p><p>
With her grip loosened, the screen falls from her hands. Sakhra catches it before it can hit the floor and shatter. “Syco? Why in the universe are you connected with the man that started the second war. It’s because of him our supplies are low. We’re both criminals, yes, but even those on this world don’t claim him. By now even most Space Pirates wish not to associate with him as well.”</p><p>
“I thought you weren’t going to ask,” she snapped.</p><p>
“And I thought you quit drinking, Saamuki.”</p><p>
“If you weren’t at that barbaric ceremony that I’m certain my sister has made it clear to you she hated as well then I would’ve kept my promise. Besides, it was only one drink.”</p><p>
“Firstly, no one else knew she hated it besides the two of us. It would look suspicious if I didn’t go. Also, I had to go for other reasons. Secondly, you might not be as intoxicated as last time, but that doesn’t mean you’re no longer a lightweight drinker. I’m going to get you some water and maybe medicine if I still have any before you get even fussier.”</p><p>
He got up and left the room. A late huff came out of Saamuki with a shout, “I don’t get fussy!”</p><p>
Not too long after he came back with a glass of water and a small patch of what I presumed was the medicine he mentioned. He placed both in front of her. She looked up at him, offended, and then snatched both from his hands. My serpent-like companion peeled back the plastic from the patch and stuck the pink square onto her right arm as she gulped down the water. “I’m not owing you for this, but that doesn’t exactly mean I’m not thankful.”</p><p>
After letting out a snicker, he takes the empty glass and replies, “No need. You having to suck it up and admit I’m smarter is payment enough.”</p><p>
“I didn’t say anything like that.”</p><p>
Teasingly he voices out, “That being I have more up here than you.”  He taps the side of his head. “No, Saamuki, you didn’t say it, but you did admit it the moment you chose to see me again.”</p><p>
She gets up and grabs my hand. “We’re leaving.”</p><p>
As she turns around and wraps her hand around the doorknob, he grabs its wrist. “No, you’re not. Saamuki, I’m not exactly sure what you’re planning to do, but what I am sure is that I can’t let you do it because it means getting yourself entangled with Syco even more.”</p><p>
“You’re trying to stop me? I’m an adult, Sakhra. It should be physically obvious I’m a fully grown woman now. You can’t tell me what I can and can’t do anymore. I thought the last time we spoke had you finally see-”</p><p>
“See what? The last time we spoke it cemented the fact you haven’t grown yet. You’re still a child, Saamuki.”</p><p>
It felt weird watching this familiar circumstance as a third party. I kept my eye on Saamuki, but I so desperately wanted to just run out of there without her in hand before the future I know is going to happen becomes the present.</p><p>
Exploding, yanking her hand free from the doorknob and his grip, she turns around and jabs a finger into his chest. “You don’t know shit about how much it hurt me and you definitely don’t know shit about being an adult. Sure, okay, maybe I don’t act like one here and there, but I could tell you for sure I know I did at that moment. At that time I would’ve risked her life. If the same were to happen right now I’d still be risking her life. It was one of the toughest decisions I’ve made in my entire life and it would’ve been childish for me not to do otherwise. Now I’m making another one. I’m going to do what’s best for everyone and even you, a sad excuse for a father, whether you let me or not.”</p><p>
“Saamuki,” I begged for her to stop.</p><p>
Ignoring me, “You always try to talk all big, but that’s just to overcompensate for your insecurities. You’re venting onto me because I was able to do what you couldn’t do. Maybe I would’ve ended up like your wife, dead, and what would’ve been the father of our kid would’ve ended up like you, grubbling for love from a man that only used him for his lustful desires. Maybe he’d take care of his painting better than you by getting less handsy on it.”</p><p>
Everything has blown out of proportion. I wish I could’ve acted quick enough, but I still grab both of her shoulders and ask for her to stop before what’s even left can be blown away too. She’s still heated, but I get the sense she went down a few pegs by the look in her eyes.</p><p>
“I’m sorry,” Sakhra apologized.</p><p>
I let go of Saamuki and turn around to him.</p><p>
She asks, “What?”</p><p>
“I’m sorry, Saamuki, for everything. Yeah, you’re right I am venting onto you. I’m jealous of you. My wife and I knew too late about the complications. Both of them are now dead and I couldn’t do anything about it, but even as I grew jealous I still helped you do it because I care about you, Saamuki. You and your sister were the only ones I had left in this cruel place we call the universe. Now you’re the only one I have left.”</p><p>
Turning back to Saamuki, her head is down. Then, in a heartbeat, she runs forward and wraps her arms around him. Both he and I are surprised. The former of which had stepped back and raised his arms. It took him a moment to relax and wrap his arms around her. Just like with Mikrovos he’s trying to hold back as much of his weight and strength as he could in fear of crushing her. For me, I’m just a bystander.</p><p>
“I’m so sorry, Sakhra, for everything that I said. I knew how much it still hurts, yet I stupidly tried to use it against you.”</p><p>
Resting his head on top of hers he concludes, “It was just the alcohol talking. It’s okay. Besides, I deserved all of that. I needed that. Thank you.”</p><p>
“I wish I could make it up to you by avoiding Syco.”</p><p>
This wasn’t my chapter to finish, but I wish it was. Their moment of reconciliation is cut short with the sound of blasters being fired. Breaking his embrace from her, he motions for all of us to stay silent as he approaches and moves the recently made curtain away from the window closest to him. Doing so, and he quickly finds what’s responsible for the noise.</p><p>
Closing the curtain and turning back around to us to relay, “Space Pirates. Lots of them. They’re fighting against some of my brothers and sisters.”</p><p>
“None of them are Tauvoxes, right? Syco, specifically,” I asked.</p><p>
“No. A large group from two different factions. Although, things are getting messy out there. I’m going to escort you two back to your ship, so you can get off-world before things get any messier.”</p><p>
Saamuki interjected with, “But you’re going to get hurt, Sakhra.”</p><p>
“You know better than anyone that I don’t get hurt easily. Besides, it should be physically obvious.” It was at that moment I got a good look at the scars underneath the red paint, reminded by the aftermath of him going toe to toe with The Commander. “Please, Saamuki, let me do this. You won’t have to owe me for this either.”</p><p>
“Fine,” she sighs, “We can’t afford for me to argue more than I already have.”</p><p>
We’re off. Saamuki is in the front and I’m in the back. Sakhra is our shield at our right as a battle between two types of criminals, ones who are Space Pirates and who aren’t, wages on the other side in front of the memorial. One faction looks octopus-like as their tentacles, which each have a streak of purple paint, snake out of their shimmering cloaks as they shoot at the residence of this planet. The other faction is covered in red armor with streaks of yellow. A blue, rectangular forcefield that’s been manifested by the armored faction acts as a wall between the two groups. I get snippets of names being called, nothing important. Blasts stray away, bounced off, and hit our bodyguard. Saamuki of course notices and becomes worried. We both saw what happened in the bar, but she’s understandably blinded my emotions. He brushes her off by reminding her we have to keep moving.</p><p>
By the time we get to the ship, he’s covered in blackened spots. While dusting them off Saamuki apologizes profusely. He tries to tell her he’s okay, but she’s not having it. She becomes overbearingly concerned and eventually scolds herself, which Sakhra tries to tell her there’s no need. If the world around me was some summer blockbuster then everything seemed to go frame by frame, slow-mo, as the climax hit. Everything went ridiculously slow. I couldn’t mouth my warning fast enough. It all came with a long pause between each word. Sakhra, midway through his efforts trying to recompose Saamuki, became impaled. A familiar dagger flew right through his chest, missing where I assume is his heart by a few inches. The owner of the weapon, which the other two are slowly finding out, is the very bitter brother that wanted nothing to do about waging war on the Lords.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0030"><h2>30. Chapter 30</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Splurging and bubbling out of the wound is a green liquid that I assume to be blood. It squeezes into the cracks and crevasses of my new ally, painting over the paint in the process. Sakhra clutches it and steps towards his brother, who has his arm reached out. The dagger flies out of Sakhra and goes back into its owner’s hold, which causes Sakhra to fall forward and Saamuki to finally react. That familiar glow burns around her. She lunges back then lunges forward when she shoots. Sakhra’s brother dodges. A small blue flame crackled on where he stood. All three of us look at her. The other two looked bewildered and I was in awe as she became Sakhra’s savior.</p><p>
She fires, literally, and he dodges with his dagger floating above his open hand. Skittering from right to left, left a blue wall of fire separating the three of us from the cloaked figure. It was getting heated, literally. Saamuki was getting exhausted, the amount of fire she gave out was shrinking by the second, and the two of us were trying to sweat off the heat, but the cult member kept moving with ease like he didn’t weigh anything. As he moved great distances, the sand beneath him barely budged. It was also baffling that he could move around like that in that cloak without sweat and tripping on it. Saamuki’s new outfit looked heavier and she’s shorter than him, but I’m sure even she couldn’t keep her stamina that long to keep her movements delicate. So, by the time the dagger finally could come barreling towards her I became Saamuki’s savior. I don’t remember thinking about it. It just happened. The crown turned into a longsword, its flames engulfing the blade of the two-handler, and deflected the attack.</p><p>
Knife plunging into the sand, a little off from our feet and the troubling pool of blood underneath the befallen Sakhra, it then proceeds to try to wiggle loose as its owner has his hand reaching forward once again. Saamuki says her thanks then her sorrow because she can no longer hold. She falls face forward, leaving me, the dying blue wall of fire, and the man that started this all alone. He smirks at the change in positions, our dwindled numbers. I swing and cause the dagger to go flying elsewhere and cut through the flames to dart towards him. Two sets of eyes widened as he moved away from my sword and almost slipped because he got a good look at me to my discontent. “A human,” he thought out loud.</p><p>
As I propelled the sword back around, he got his weapon to return to him. My cheek is sliced into as it does. I manage to press a finger on it, feeling it healing before sparks fly as our blades clash. I have two hands on my sword’s handle, which is about my height, and he simply has one hand on his dagger that’s about a foot long, yet he’s able to be my equal. He’s able to hold his own as I struggled against the weight of the sword underneath my grip. I despised my previous self for not working out enough. The man before me was like a snake and I, because of my limited experience in combat and especially with this sword, was like a monkey with a blindfold. Still, neither of us could budge the other.</p><p>
Stepped back before we can add onto our numerous clashes, he sends the dagger flying towards me. I try dodging, but it takes a chunk of flesh from my arm before I can. I grunt. For the second time, it rips through the jacket and this time takes a piece of my collarbone. At least for the third, I was quick enough to stop it from hitting my throat. I’m fighting with his weapon instead of him. He laughs and I bite down my curses.</p><p>
“I’m not sure how my brother and Saamuki got into contact with a human, but with the way it’s looking, I’m not going to find out.”</p><p>
I swung, but I was a second off. The dagger stabbed right through me, right through my heart. Stumbling back with one of my hands grasping the site, blood seeped through the already worn jacket and the space between my fingers, dripping into the sand. As my vision fades, I watch him heading towards me with both his hands behind his back. Once he’s close enough and his laughter is audible, I smash my bloodied hand on and wipe it across his eyes. As he tries wiping it off with one hand and unsheathing his dagger with the other, I grab a hold of its handle midway through it flying and lunge it towards him. Because of the sand beneath us, he’s able to hear it coming. He dodges with his vision returned, but not his weapon. Now both my sword and his dagger sat on either of my hands.</p><p>
Circling each other, he interrogates me, “You’re a human, aren’t you? You should be dead.”</p><p>
Coughing out blood and wiping it off my lips, I can feel my heart closing, and this time the healing process hurts. It felt like someone tore off my ribs and is now squeezing my heart, yet I’m thankful for it. There couldn’t be any clearer indication that my growing hunch was correct. It’ll take a lot for me to die. “I don’t know if I am human anymore. I don’t know what I am anymore, but what I do know is that you don’t have the upper hand anymore.”</p><p>
“You seem sure.”</p><p>
“I am because if you could do more than wave your dagger around then you would’ve done so already. You had several opportunities to show it.”</p><p>
“Interesting. You’re smarter than most. I give up. Even I can admit when I’ve been bested.” My opponent places both of his hands behind his back as he falls on both of his knees. Of course, I don’t accept this with ease. I tightened my grip on the dagger and trekked towards him with both weapons pointed directly at him. When I’m finally in front of him, his dagger is poking his chest and my sword is ready to decapitate him with a single swing. There was no precise reason, but I asked for him to remove his hood. He complies and I see that he looks a lot like Ojos, but not enough for both weapons to fall. “I know you’re wondering why I did this, why I was so appalled by us waging a war against the Lords that I had to vent out my vexation towards the man that helped it become a reality, so I’ll tell you before you end my life.”</p><p>
Moving both blades closer, nearly slicing into his skin and cloak respectively, I bark, “If you’re trying to buy time for something I won’t hesitate to hurt you.”</p><p>
“You said it yourself. That dagger between your fingers is the only thing I have up my sleeve. Now let me get into it. I, like that young private from the ceremony, gave my life to serve and reinforce the power of the Lords. I thought what I was doing was what the universe needed, but I found out much too late about what I was actually doing. I murdered my commander in cold blood, but it didn’t take them long to capture and beat me until I lay bloody.”</p><p>
“I was sent off. At the time, I thought I was going to be executed. This assumption was reinforced when I was thrown before their feet. I was before the Lords of The Universe. They gave me another chance to redeem myself. I should’ve been relieved, thankful, but I was scared. I could feel the power they possessed even as they did nothing but sit and eye me down. They were godly. My brothers and sisters are asking for a death wish. It doesn’t matter how much our numbers multiply they will wipe us all because God is still God without followers. God doesn’t need any of us. They don’t need a military, their precious Space Pirates, and they certainly don’t need lousy criminals. We are just their toys and once they get tired of us they’ll find a new one. I have children just like many of my brothers and sisters. I know we don’t have eternity to prosper, but I’d rather enjoy the time I have than have that be taken away sooner.”</p><p>
“This just makes it clearer why something needs to be done about the Lords of the Universe.”</p><p>
“Were you not listening to me? What are grains of sand to a mountain? We will never amount to anything to them. One simple pebble that rolls down a mountain will turn into a boulder. That boulder will hit the ground and crush any grain of sand it can get its weight on. The mountain would remain to stand, but the sand either disperses or turns into dust.”</p><p>
“One day your use will cease.”</p><p>
“I have days to live before that happens.”</p><p>
“You can not live if you fear for your life and your family’s lives every day.”</p><p>
“Then, end my life. You can stop me from stopping my brothers and sisters. However, if you so chose to do it then you will need to bear the death of billions of others. Could you live with that?”</p><p>
“If I don’t kill you billions will die eventually. If I do kill you billions will still die eventually.”</p><p>
“The difference between your options is time. Live in fear for a hundred days or live in fear for one day.”</p><p>
His dagger sunk into his arm. Then, I pulled it out. Gripping it, he cursed at me and screamed. “If you make me regret this decision I’ll make sure the pain you feel now is nothing compared to the pain I’d make you feel the next time we have to meet again.”</p><p>
He coughs out, “As much pain as I’ve caused Sakhra?” Heart dropping, as I’ve forgotten, I turn around to the lifeless Sakhra and an awakened, kneeled, and crying Saamuki with glowing blue hands over the man in question.</p><p>
Sprinted over to them, I can hear Saamuki cry out, “Please, Sakhra. Please, stay with me. I still need you. You can’t go. You can’t leave me. Not yet.” Her voice deepened with that last part. With her eyes glowing blue, I knew Saamuki was no longer in control. The glow surrounding her hands became a blinding flash. I closed my eyes, but when a familiar voice began coughing I opened them.</p><p>
Sakhra was sitting upright with his hand placed on where the wound should be. Then, look at the non-blue-glowing-eyed Saamuki. Saamuki, in turn, wraps her arms around him and cries into his chest. He gave her a moment then separated her from his chest to look her in the eyes. “Did you always have that,” he wipes away some of her tears, “Could you always shoot fire out of your hands? I have too many questions.”</p><p>
Through her tears she illuminated his questions as best she could, “It’s a long story, but basically a two millennia-old soul is inside me.”</p><p>
He opens his mouth. Closes it. Then, opens it again to say, “I guess that explains your new sense of fashion. In all honesty, not the weirdest thing I’ve heard all day.” An explosion can be heard from the battle taking place in the flea market. “Speaking of all day, you don’t have all day. Hurry and get back onto your ship. I’m not sure about why you need to get to Syco, but that option is probably better than staying here.”</p><p>
“But what about you, Sakhra? You can’t stay here.”</p><p>
“I have to.” The sounds of footsteps have me turn around and see that now hooded figure trying to flee from us. “I really have to. There are things I have to do. Again, I’m sorry, Saamuki,” he continued.</p><p>
They hugged for what I hope isn’t the last time.</p><p>
I leaned against the glass while eyeing the blood on the dagger’s blade as Saamuki, who’s hunched down, piloted her ship. “Are you okay?”</p><p>
Lifting her head to reply, as if I was right in front of her and that she needed to look me in the eyes when responding with, “Yeah. Of course. Sakhra’s healed.”</p><p>
“I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about your homeworld. Are you going to be okay?”</p><p>
She types in a few things before answering, “It happened a long time ago. I thought I moved past it. I thought, right then and there, that was the last time I’d see my homeworld. Explosions could be felt and heard for miles upon miles. I saw my homeworld turn grey before my eyes. I-I just don’t-”</p><p>
Setting the dagger down, stepping towards her, and placing my hand on her shoulder, “It’s okay. We can talk it out.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0031"><h2>31. Chapter 31</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>After finding Syco, the duo finds an unsettling, new reality.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Chapters 31-35 are part 7.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Two heavenly bodies billions of light-years away from each other, known for their greenish-blue glow, were barely touched by substantially more advanced civilizations. For thousands of their years, they prospered because of the latter even as their dark histories grew in the background. Until one day what seemed like a fairytale was burned down and in the aftermath, lying between the ashes, millions of bodies, and hushed whispers that never got to be spoken out loud, was a hand. The hand that rose from this dark, thick, and infectious atmosphere was the hand of the post-apocalypse. Both planets were forcefully shoved into the middle of the first intergalactic war that neither of them started or wanted to be a part of. They shared many things right until the beginning of their ends. While both of their initial stories ended Earth began a new book. The same could not be done with Saamuki’s homeworld.</p>
<p>
From where we were it looked like coal, blacker, and rougher than the space around it even as two suns beat down on it. As the distance between us and it shrunk, I got chills down my spine. If the planet suddenly became a black hole even as I stared right at its unchanging, dead surface I wouldn’t question my eyes because I could feel a pull. I could feel the planet pulling me in, wanting to suffocate and embed its decades of heart-wrenching emotions into me. The planet wanted me to understand its pain because it’s been harboring this feeling for so long. So, I place the dagger over my chest and clutch it tightly and for a split second, I take a glance at Saamuki. She’s doing a lot better. Her face is stern and serious. Her eyes match this. I know who Saamuki is on the outside, but I barely got to know who she's like on the inside. I wish I knew what she was thinking.</p>
<p>
“Syco’s ship,” the fingers on her right type in rapid succession across the screen before her, “It’s on the other side. Thankfully he is, but I’m picking up another huge source of energy. Another Space Pirate ship. Weirdly enough neither of the ships are attacking the other.”</p>
<p>
“It has to be Skeema’s old faction, right?”</p>
<p>
“That’s what I thought too, but why would they be all the way out here, away from the war they started?”</p>
<p>
“Maybe they separated? His old faction could be fighting as we speak and Syco is on the other side with some other faction.”</p>
<p>
“Then, that begs the question of why? Why come to my homeworld out of the billions of others and the thousands that were lost to the first war?”</p>
<p>
Looking down at the dagger, “I think we’re going to have to go and find out.”</p>
<p>
Saamuki landed the ship. She reminded me to keep my guard up because if she saw the two ships then Syco’s and whatever other faction was with him definitely saw us too. A third weirdly enough is that they didn’t bother to attack us, the other faction specifically. Meaning, both were on her homeworld or their commanders were on here, too busy and far away from their crew to give orders. Still, they know we’re here and whatever the reason why they are here couldn’t be good. At least the atmosphere isn’t deadly anymore, which has been for the past five years, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t cause me to cough and have watery eyes.</p>
<p>
Unaffected by any of this, the air to the ashes between the cracks in the ground is Saamuki focused on the ship’s screen. I wouldn’t have thought that it could be removed, but the tech was made by aliens after all. In the first five minutes of our walk and hopefully not five minutes closer to our deaths, I nearly tripped on what was left of the foundation of someone’s home. By the fifteen minute mark, I got the hang of swerving and lifting my legs up to my torso. Half an hour into this I still haven’t properly digested what I was walking on, the improper resting places of hundreds, and the decay of thousands of memories. Saamuki notices this, but I didn’t notice I’ve been staring at her. “To tell you the truth, I had ideas about what it looked like, but never this. I got the sense during the last hours of our final attempt at fleeing,” she acknowledged my unspoken questions as her eyes remained on the screen that I now noticed had coordinated the other party’s positions with way too much math.</p>
<p>
I know it wouldn’t have done much and I’ve said it plenty to her during our vent session, but I say it to her again, “I’m sorry.”</p>
<p>
“We’re about five minutes to where he should’ve landed,” Saamuki ignored me coldly. I know she didn’t mean to, but I know why she did. We’ve gone through the other steps together, and now all that’s left is her acceptance.</p>
<p>
Chests against a blackened, dusty, and cracked wall we try to look past it and the withered forest of vines towards a clearing without getting caught. In the clearing is a familiar figure and another that’s unfamiliar. Heart racing, I knew it was only a matter of time before they turned and ordered their factions to shoot at us and capture us. It was only a matter of time before they ripped us from our hiding and threw us before them. I kind of got a feel of what Syco is about, but not this figure. Maybe my assumptions are wrong, so they order their ships to fire at us. We and along with an immense portion of this deserted, broken planet would be sent to smithereens before either of us could realize. Until any of that can become a reality we’re forced to wait and listen.</p>
<p>
A soldier from the other faction, who just like his commander, has glowing dreads with beads floating inside each with armor only protecting the outer edges of his chest, arms, thighs, and crotch. His skin color is a sickly yellow with hints of purple. Once the soldier places his left fist on his chest and the other behind his back, saluting his commander, his commander’s mouth with its four fangs that sprouted out of its corners opened. He speaks, “And what is the status, captain?”</p>
<p>
Swiping his finger across his wristband, a holographic screen appears. I’m not able to read it. Unsurprisingly I’m not, but whatever it could be is getting a reaction out of Saamuki. She then proceeds to go back to her screen and types some things. I go back to focusing on the reason why we’re obligated to be sitting ducks.</p>
<p>
After waving off the captain and the captain’s second salute, the commander turns to Syco with both his hands behind his back. “Then, I would like to humbly apologize for my dismissal, Commander Syco.”</p>
<p>
“No need, Commander Raubtier. All is forgiven because it is understandable. Believe me, I was once like you when the Commander of the Virmus faction came to me with this same, dishonorable, and unfortunate fact.”</p>
<p>
“Then, if that is true the other thing you told me is true as well. Is it not?”</p>
<p>
A snap of Syco’s fingers and two hidden Tauvoxes from behind us yank us up and throw us in front of Syco and Raubtier. “Yes.”</p>
<p>
“A h-human? Out here?” The yellowish alien stepped back and two blades ejected from the armor on his wrists. He pointed them at us.</p>
<p>
“Relax, commander. The Watchers are nowhere near this planet.”</p>
<p>
“But, Commander Syco,” he lowers his weapons, “why are you in contact with a human? I knew you-”</p><p>
“That I am mad,” Syco shrugs, “Maybe a little. If you were keeping it a secret as long as I have you would too. Now as for the human in question she’s the example of what the combined efforts of Tauvox and Virmus innovation can do.”</p>
<p>
Midway through my grubbling for my dagger, Syco pulls me by my arm, and as Saamuki is struck by Raubtier right when she’s about to react, Syco crushes it. I scream and try to fight free, squirming in his grip. I was powerless as bone cracked and ripped right through my skin. White and red popped out and flowed down my arm. Somehow through it all, through the suffering, I free myself. It wasn’t without payment. The very arm Syco shattered now is dangling from its socket. Grunting with my eyes dead set on Syco while I hear Saamuki fighting her own battle, I can feel myself healing.</p>
<p>
I don’t look down, so I don’t see it, but the two commanders do. “Remarkable,“ Raubtier remarks.</p>
<p>
Dagger and spear out, I go straight after Syco even when I know it’s foolish, but my mind shuts it out. The adrenaline kicked in. It kicked in too much. He dodges my attacks with ease, swaying, and lowering when needed.</p>
<p>
“And the other one? Have the nanites been placed into her body as well?”</p>
<p>
That’s why I’ve changed. Syco placed nanites into me. That also explains why Skeema was able to regain control for a moment and the extra code Sakhra found. Syco must’ve placed them into the others as well, but that doesn’t explain why I’m not an empty husk like them.</p>
<p>
“No,” Syco responds with his eyes still on me. He even dodges both my spear and a blast from Saaamuki. “Though the nanites should work just as well as the intriguing case before you.”</p>
<p>
I’m panting. Sweat coaxed my skin, dripping off of it, or darkening my clothes. My body was telling me to stop, but my mind told me to keep going. Stopping would mean surrendering to Syco even when this outcome is nigh. The difference between giving up now and falling because of my exhaustion is time. Right now I’d rather do something even if it means being Syco’s toy, but that was then. That was just mere seconds ago because right now Syco stops. I dig the dagger into his chest. I can feel everyone’s eyes on me as they come to a halt.</p>
<p>
Syco, without making a face, pulls the dagger out of his chest. I’m not surprised by this, but what I am surprised by is him handing me back the now soaking dagger. As his blood drips off the blade, I look up at him. I take it back without much hesitation and point it at him. “As you have seen already, I don’t desire to kill. At least not anymore. Five times our paths have crossed, yet in all instances, I have yet to take your life. I have spared yours and many others’ lives, unlike the previous Tauvoxes’ commander, and because of his stubborn choice to remain traditional he has fallen. Although, I won’t be so clueless as to see it’s because of those beliefs it’s gotten our people this far. For years we’ve prospered, but after the war, we have stagnated.”</p>
<p>
Looking into his eyes, I let out a snarky remark, “And yet you’ve started a second, Syco.” Could it have been me, or could’ve been the nanites acting up that gave me this bravery? I knew so little of what the nanites are capable of, after all.</p>
<p>
“An unfortunate outcome I was hoping to avoid. The other commanders aren’t like Commander Raubtier and the several other open-minded leaders. They didn’t listen to reason, so they instead listened to their bloodlust. No, correction, their fear.”</p>
<p>
“Fear towards the Lords of the Universe I presume.”</p>
<p>
“A conclusion that’s far from wrong.”</p>
<p>
“Syco,” this time when I said his name I made sure it was venomous, “You can’t talk about being a pacifist when you let my homeworld be taken by the Lords.”</p>
<p>
“You can’t even imagine the horrors that I’ve seen and had regrettably done throughout my time as second-in-command, but throughout that time I’ve learned a lot. To catch a serpent, you must first leave out fresh meat. Wait and then your predator becomes your prey.”</p>
<p>
“Earth. My homeworld. My people. Humanity isn’t just some fresh meat.”</p>
<p>
“They’re not going to die, human. I won’t let that happen.” I shut my mouth. He kneels, but he’s still taller. “We are equals in this war, human, whether you like it or not.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0032"><h2>32. Chapter 32</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Syco’s eyes are as blue as the sky. No, they’re as blue as the ocean, and just like the ocean, I could get lost in them. It’s not because of fondness. It’s because of curiosity. They’re mysterious. The longer I look into them the deeper I go and the darker it gets. As we look into each other’s eyes, I remain at their edges before I hit and am trapped at their rock bottom. “No, we’re not. Sure. Okay. We have a common goal. Maybe we’re similar here and there, but we’re not equals. We’ll never be because I’m not and I don’t ever plan to be like you.”</p><p>
Standing back up, dirt tumbles down his poofy, red-stained pants. “I won’t force you to believe what I see, but open-mindedness is the key to winning this war.”</p><p>
Going straight into it, “You put nanites into me.”</p><p>
“I ordered my men to do so.”</p><p>
“Why?”</p><p>
“Insurance.”</p><p>
“How about my friends? Khavas? Why am I not like them?”</p><p>
“I’m not surprised you have a very good eye. You’re right I could’ve turned you into just another mindless lackey, but I didn’t,” he motions to his head, “Whatever is up there is keeping you from that. The strong win wars, not the weak.”</p><p>
“Another question. Where are they?”</p><p>
“Ask as many questions as you want. None of us are currently in any rush, but to answer your question they’re with the Virmus’ current commander, Commander Knox, and the rest of my men fighting the war as we continue on this back and forth.”</p><p>
“What? How far away are they?”</p><p>
He tilts his head. He blinks. He pauses. Then, he looks back at me. “Last time we were in contact they were in Quadrant Thirty-Nine fighting two factions. I think that was about four hours ago.”</p><p>
“Are they okay?”</p><p>
“Of course they’re okay. I’m mad, but not mindless and especially not heartless. By now Commander Knox, a better strategist than me, should be signing a treaty between us and the other two factions. Both are the weakest factions but protect a pivotal solar system. It has the greatest minds in the known universe.”</p><p>
“Then, why are you all the way out here? Wouldn’t it be smarter for you to stay with Knox?”</p><p>
“Commander Knox,” he corrected me before continuing, “You remain to be worried about your friends. They can heal just like us. So, I’m here to increase our numbers with the less impulsive factions, the ones who can actually think before acting. Commander Knox and I could’ve switched places, but his heart doesn’t compensate for his mind.”</p><p>
I made sense of his words, “You know how to talk and he doesn’t.”</p><p>
Before he’s able to reply one of the Tauvoxes that threw Saamuki and me come running up to him. “Commander,” he interrupted Syco.</p><p>
“Captain.”</p><p>
“We picked up another ship heading our way.”</p><p>
“How long do we have?”</p><p>
“Two minutes.”</p><p>
“They’re incredibly fast. They have plenty of fuel to spare. Interesting. Order for the others to beam us.” Now the captain’s eyes move to me and then to Saamuki. “Now, captain,” Syco continued with annoyance.</p><p>
With the wave of the captain’s hands, a screen appeared before him and he typed just as fast as Saamuki’s typing skills, if not faster. Neither I or Saamuki get to ask before a familiar feel, a familiar pull, and a familiar tractor beam pulls everyone but Commander Raubtier and his men. Them, on the other hand, salutes Syco before they teleport.</p><p>
As soon as our feet touch Syco’s flight deck, I feel an uneasiness in the pit of my stomach. The feeling came from both reliving the memory and the unnatural way of moving from one place to another, one dreaded place to another. So, I fall to my knees and struggle to get back up.</p><p>
Saamuki looks at him and he takes her worry for the wrong reason. “Your ship will be accounted for once I assess the situation and destroy it.”</p><p>
From down below the platform all of us are now standing on, one of the Tauvoxes handling one of the ship’s many computers points out to Syco, “Commander Syco, an incoming transmission from the incoming ship wants-”</p><p>
“Accept it. I’d like to see the face before I cut it from its body.”</p><p>
Appearing overhead, a screen appeared. In it, it showed an alien with a crab-like exoskeleton, and guessing from the badges pinned on the right side of his chest is the commander of the now arrived ship. Small tentacles attached to his upper lip moved with every new expression as he worded, “Syco, are you insane?”</p><p>
“Commander, I know it’s been a decade, but there’s no way you’ve forgotten the obvious answer. You were the one that spread it across the universe, after all.”</p><p>
This gets a smirk out of the sea creature-like commander. “I’m not playing games, Syco.”</p><p>
“Neither am I.”</p><p>
The other commander’s amused face fades. “Then, you’ve truly become insane. Even your predecessor would be ashamed of what you’ve become.”</p><p>
An eye roll from Syco is followed by, “Get on with it, Cala.”</p><p>
“Syco, stop this right now. You have yet to comprehend the consequences of your plan. End your war or I will be forced to end you.”</p><p>
For the second time, I hear Syco laugh. “I’ll see you outside, Cala.” With the transmission ended, Syco turns to the captain from before. The captain salutes. “You are now my second-in-command. For now, you will be in charge of keeping this ship stable as I proceed with my final battle with Commander Cala and that Commander Raubtier is ordered to proceed.”</p><p>
“Understood, Commander Syco, but are you sure you wish to go alone? Commander Cala is said to be-”</p><p>
Syco places a hand in front of the recently appointed second-in-command, “I am well aware of the rumors and I know most are true. I have witnessed first-hand, but I don’t plan to go out there alone.” The spotlight is brought back to me when he turns to me. “When I defeat the Lords, I will give you back your friends, but for right now something is slowing that down. Help me defeat this obstacle and you’ll be rewarded with time and the rest of your questions that need answering.”</p><p>
I can feel her eyes on me, so I turn to her. We spoke without words being said. “But I’m coming too,” Saamuki added.</p><p>
“I wouldn’t think otherwise,” Syco responded.</p><p>
There we were, the beginning of where it all truly went downhill. I was trying to fight against him at that time, but now I’m fighting with him. I saw him as my enemy when we stood in front of each other. I still do, but now, as we’re standing beside each other waiting for what’s to come inside our spacesuits as Cala descends towards us, I’m seeing him as an ally. Oh, how things have changed in such a short amount of time. He orders us while still facing ahead, “You with the blue fire stay behind us. Shoot whenever you find an opening and, human, you’re with me, but don’t get in my way. I’ve been waiting for this rematch with Cala.” I can hear the strain of his gloves as he tightens his fists.</p><p>
Cala smashes onto the ship with such a force it causes the metal around him to bend and crack. The quake that came with it brings the two of us—not Syco—to lose our footing. Once I regain it I see that even with the distance between us Cala is massive, easily four times bigger than Syco. Speaking of four, two arms sprouted out from his back. Green ooze was shot out in the process. Cracking his knuckles and neck he lets out, “This is your last chance, Syco.”</p><p>
The subject replies, “Merciful as ever. No, but thank you, though. I’ve been waiting for years for this, Cala, and I don’t plan to wait any longer.”</p><p>
“Then, I pray your last moments will satisfy the bloodlust your people have.” Every step Cala takes is another rumble and more of a reason for my heart to race. The crown remains a crown. When his fist collides with Syco’s, the crown becomes a staff. It’s not what I wanted. The two struggled for dominance. Pushed Cala off of him and then barreling towards him, I’m finally able to make the two-handed sword.</p><p>
Cala’s fist comes smashing into Syco’s face. If I was in his position it would’ve easily shattered my skull. While his blood drips down the glass of his helmet I swing. Cala dodges it but isn’t able to dodge Syco’s counter. Syco’s fist is sent into Cala’s stomach, causing the two to just be a foot apart. This would’ve made Syco an easy target if it wasn’t for the swinging of my sword. My sword connects with his left arm’s exoskeleton, but when his second left fist aims for me, Saamuki’s blue fire hits him, forcing him to be pushed away from the two of us.</p><p>
Grunting as he wipes away the burn from his face, “When did you start believing in teamwork, Syco?”</p><p>
“A lot has changed since we last clashed, Cala.”</p><p>
“Is that so? Let’s see how much. Let’s see what will happen when I finally stop going easy on you.”</p><p>
One moment Cala was ten feet away from us, brushing the aftermath of Saamuki’s attack off of him. The next he’s inches in front of Syco, slamming his knee into my teammate’s face. The attack causes him to fly past Saamuki. As Saamuki tries firing, which Cala dodges with ease, he transforms all four of his hands into blades. It’s a technique I’m familiar with, and one I’m going to get too familiar with. All four of them fly at me. The nanites have gotten me accustomed to the weight of the sword, but not against four times as much. They hurl at me with such a speed my senses can barely keep up with. I’m able to deflect some of them with my sword, but not all. He cuts into my suit and then into me. I see my blood floating out of me as far off in the distance, above us, I see Cala’s and Raubtier’s ships blasting each other. It’s a magnificent light show filled with explosions and all the colors of the rainbow, but one I wished I was farther away from.</p><p>
I was able to block his upper blades, but not his lower blades. Frozen in shock as he has the other two sunk into my abdomen, I watch him begin to pull me apart. Moving the sword would land his upper blades into my eyes. He was a cat. I was his mouse. He trapped me in a dead-end, literally. Then, as more of my blood floated away from me, Saamuki defies Syco’s orders. She returns to the fight by coming all too close to him with blue flames encircling her fists and then, floating, proceeds to swing left and right. With glowing blue eyes bursting out of her angry ones she causes Cala to stumble backward, letting me go painfully, and him being unable to counter. His blood splatters with each hard hit. “You are a sin that must be cleansed,” The Speaker spoke out of Saamuki’s mouth.</p><p>
Hand clutching where Cala wounded me, a feeble attempt to force the blood that’s yet to spill out of me to remain inside of me, Syco regained consciousness and stepped next to me. “Things keep changing, but they always go back to being what they were,” I turned to him as he continues with, “Can you turn that into a long-ranged weapon?”</p><p>
“I-I can try.”</p><p>
“To win a battle you first have to remember to breathe. Focus, human. Don’t ever let your emotions get the better of you.”</p><p>
He moved as if he wasn’t just hit with a force compared to a truck. Between Saamuki’s punches is Syco’s. Both can hold their own against Cala who seems to barely have weakened. They dodge his blades with ease. They moved as one, moving with fluidity. As for me, I looked down at my sword. I look into the blade lying underneath its fire and into my reflection.</p><p>
Breathe in.</p><p>
Breath out.</p><p>
I tighten my grip on its handle. Raising it, pointing it at Cala who’s too busy with Saamuki and Syco, I watch the sword be transformed into a bow. My other hand touched its string and pulled it back. I can hear and feel it stretch underneath my grip. An arrow made out of fire manifests between my middle and index finger. I can hear it crackling. I can feel its heat.</p><p>
Breathe in.</p><p>
Breath out.</p><p>
Then, I let go.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0033"><h2>33. Chapter 33</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The bow’s string recoils, lurching forward and backward, each time quicker than the previous. The arrow seemingly stretched the longer I looked at it. It was a golden blur that when it finally hit Cala, which missed Syco’s kick by a split second, finally emanated a sound. The sound it made was as quick as its movements and as powerful as its strike. The arrow, embedded between his pecs, which squeezed against each other, had torn into him, but not into his heart. Still, his blood squirted around the arrow. Distracted by this, Syco is finally able to overpower him again. He grabs the arms closest to him, pulls Cala towards him, and headbutts his opponent.</p><p>
The giant stumbled back and struggled to defend himself against Cala’s punches. The fusion between Saamuki and The Speaker stood back, watching as to not get in the way. No one and not anything could ruin Syco’s long-awaited moment, not even a blast that strayed away from the battle that took place above could. The two split when it came cutting towards them and they reunited as soon as it left. Not even as the ship moved, moving away from the incoming, second stray blast, the two remained concentrated on pummeling the other, Syco mostly.</p><p>
That is until Cala’s face became covered in bruises, had gotten a swollen eye, and his blood nearly painted his face, and his chest became one big, green smudge. He moved back twenty paces. Whatever Cala had in mind Syco didn’t want to find out. He tried stopping him, but something purple was shot out of Cala’s mouth. Seeing it begin to eat away at the distance between the two of them, I find out it’s acidic and it’s my turn to return to this fight. I fire multiple arrows at Cala, but they’re not fast enough to stop him from encasing himself into his exoskeleton.</p><p>
Syco makes the jump. The acid ate away a lot of the space between him and Cala. He makes it and is about to strike, but with wings, spikes, and green ooze shooting out of Cala, Syco is pushed away before he could. Two steps further and he would’ve fallen into the large hole the acid created as it ate through the ship’s dense metal. All too close Syco witnesses Cala transform into a demon. Not really, but he looked like one. Cala’s wingspan was double his size. Attached to their edges and around him are razor-sharp spikes that could do way more damage than the deadly, purple substance that came out of his mouth.</p><p>
Stretching his wings, he pushes us away. As he now flew above us, the strength of his wings pushed us even further. It was difficult to stand even for Syco, but we managed. “My wounds have healed, yet to do so and to transform into this took a lot out of me.”</p><p>
“Back to square one,” Syco commented.</p><p>
Again, Cala smirks.</p><p>
Cala swoops down towards Syco. I shoot. He dodges and pulls his two right fists back and thrusts. Syco can’t dodge. He doesn’t have the room or the time, so he’s forced to try to defend. He knew it was foolish, but it’s better than nothing. Syco is overpowered. He’s pushed into the death sentence waiting behind him.</p><p>
“Syco,” I screamed out. I don’t get to hear him fall before Cala comes after me next. The fusion between friend and ghost fly towards him way before he’s able to touch me. The two get entangled. My glowing, blue ally tries to hold their own, but it’s clear Cala is outclassing them. With every new punch, they make Cala throw four, half hit the duo. Through all of this, I’m not just standing and watching them slowly fall closer to defeat. I’m trying to aim, but I can’t get a clear shot. Eventually, I do, but I’m not thankful for it because of the two spiraling downward and eventually crashing into the floor. I don’t hesitate after. I’m shooting, but Cala uses the strength of his wings to deflect each attack. When he gets all too close, I swing the newly reformed sword at him. I got a slice into his face, which he touched, and looked up at his hand to see his blood with a grimace. After, the demonic creature wastes no more time when he once again transforms all four of his hands into blades. Unlike last time I’m able to keep up, but I don’t know how long I’m able to. I’m tired. I’m sweating. My muscles ache, burning with each movement, and it’s hard to breathe in this. Each breath causes my glass to fog up. Just right when I’m about to go unconscious I’m saved by a familiar blue beam of light. It pushes Cala away from me. It pushes him further as the fusion, which now has blue flames acting as hair and glowing veins, moves closer towards him. The strength of this attack is the strongest I’ve ever seen as it burns away the metal beneath it and Cala’s exoskeleton, which causes him to scream.  It’s only a matter of time before the wall shielding Cala, protecting him from being blown away into the deep, dark reaches of outer space gives into the superior strength of the duo’s attack. The wall is cracking and I can hear it bending. A hole is eventually made, caving around him, but it’s not enough. The strength of the duo isn’t enough. Saamuki falls to her knees, apologizing as she’s trying to regain normalcy in her breathing and fight to remain conscious, but I can’t help her now. I can’t go to her yet.</p><p>
The pain is unimaginable as if Cala got to me before Saamuki got to him and is now squeezing me, but I run towards him. I shove the blade into his chest.</p><p>
Gagging out blood, which spills onto the blade and my fingers, I push it in even further. I was so close to killing him. I could feel the yearning in my heart, but he stopped me. Syco places his hand on my shoulder and I don’t flinch from it. I instead turn around and see a hole in his right shoulder closing, healing. Without words, our eyes spoke for us. In response, I pluck out the sword and move aside, causing Cala to fall, but he’s still taller than Syco. Spitting out more blood, Cala says, “Of course. You live to see your enemies suffer.”</p><p>
“No,” Syco crouches down, “For so long I imagined this moment, me standing victorious over your pitiful body. Now, that no longer interests me. Bloodlust no longer fills my head, Cala. I’m not going to end you. I don’t want you to die.”</p><p>
“Syco, it’s not like you to forget. It was because of me your people are the way they are.”</p><p>
“I remember perfectly, Cala.”</p><p>
“Then, end me now. Kill me,” his eyes move towards Syco’s newly healed shoulder, “You clearly have the advantage here.”</p><p>
“No.” Cala raises his eyebrows. “Instead, I offer you your life and in return, I want your loyalty,” Syco continued.</p><p>
“Loyalty for what? To be part of your foolish plan?” He lets out a chuckle.</p><p>
“This is your chance to redeem yourself, Commander Cala.”</p><p>
“It’s a death wish that’s built on irony.” Again, he coughs.</p><p>
“You are dying, Cala. You don’t have time for this. I’m giving you an opportunity that will benefit us all.”</p><p>
Cala looks down at him with watery eyes. He closes them so that his tears flow down his cheeks as he gulps. The dying commander reopens them to look at Syco with helpless eyes. “I’ve wronged your people. I’ve regretted it, haunted by it, and rightfully so I have, yet here you are showing me mercy. You truly have become insane,” he clutches his wound and twitches, “But I’m the monster. I-I’m sorry, Syco.”</p><p>
Syco places his hand on top of Cala’s. Cala grips it, holds it, and when his eyes close for the last time, he lets go. Cala, the cause of the civil war that took place on the homeworld of the Tauvoxes, has died underneath one of its last inhabitants. Syco’s face is emotionless, but his eyes tell a different story. For the first time, I see Syco cry.</p><p>
Saamuki lies unconscious on a bed much bigger than both of us, as her body is healing itself. She remained glowing, but her eyes remained shut. Her breathing is normal, which is a relief. I and this ship’s commander who’s just entered the room didn’t need someone else to fall.</p><p>
Back relaxed and pointed towards Syco as my hands are holding Saamuki’s right, he reports, “Your spaceship is being collected as we speak. Additionally, your friends and Commander Knox are en route to Quadrant Forty.”</p><p>
It comes back to me. His body being ripped apart as he cried out for it to stop, for mercy. I gag, but I hold it back. I let go of Saamuki and turn around to face him. He stood in front of the doorway with his eyes glued to the screen resting between his hands. He looked a lot like Mikrovos. I mean, of course, he did. They’re the same alien species, but Syco is now no longer another piece of the unknown. Now, he’s just another person. His ears twitched when he finally noticed me looking at him.</p><p>
“Ah, yes, I promised you answers.”</p><p>
“The Lords. Me. Us. What are you planning?”</p><p>
His words are cold, reminding me he’s far from being like Mikrovos, “In words, it’s simple: get as many on our side, and get to the Lords, and defeat them. The nanites in us will help us do just that.”</p><p>
He has the screen vanish as he steps towards us, which I instinctively reach for the dagger resting in my pocket. As he looks down at Saamuki with his arms crossed behind his back, he makes sure I know he noticed my reaction with, “Given the chance, you’d stab me again. Of course, you know better than to do that because not only is it pointless at this current time but you know you need me as much as I need you.”</p><p>
I set the dagger down. He turns around to look into my eyes. Again, and further reminded he’s not Mikrovos.</p><p>
Syco continues, “The first intergalactic war was the long, drown out reaction towards the Lords taking control. Wild animals cannot be controlled. It will kill you long before you’re able to tame it. We are equal because we are both wild animals. Both of us had our homes taken away from us because of the war. You don’t trust me, but I do. I trust you with my life. Helping me defeat Commander Cala was the final test to prove that. I won’t ever force you to believe my views, but I will ask you to once again fight beside me. Stand by me, or stand behind me,” he pulls my hand along with my dagger close to his chest, “If you so chose the former and once this is all over I will let you take your revenge. I will fall by your hands.”</p><p>
Still looking into his eyes, “Why?”</p><p>
“Because once they’re defeated I no longer have meaning.” He lets go of me. I bring the dagger back to my lap and look down at it. I’ve heard something similar before, so I look back at Saamuki. He turns around and walks away. Before he leaves us he relays, “We’re an hour away from our next destination.”</p><p>
I sat in silence, thinking of our conversation over and over again. The look on his face is etched into the back of my mind. The look in his eyes as he revealed the conclusion to our conversation has my grip tighten on the dagger. I nearly stabbed my other hand with the abrupt cough from Saamuki. She’s woken up and after she’s done coughing looks at me. Rather than asking if she’s okay I for some reason look away, ashamed.</p><p>
When I finally dare to look up, I instead see the emotionless black-figure rather than Saamuki’s concerned facial expression.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0034"><h2>34. Chapter 34</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I don’t do anything. I look into their eyes, watching them morph into someone I once knew. I- No. She looks at me with wonder in her eyes. She’s who I was before everything led to this. She’s wearing the same outfit with white and thick, black lines, but hers is a lot newer than mine. Hers isn’t faded. Hers hasn’t seen what I’ve had to go through. It’s innocent, naive, something I wish I still had. It’s as the saying goes ignorance is bliss.</p><p>
The two of us have talked about this. It felt good doing so, but it wasn’t enough. I still need to accept it. I still need to let these emotions go.</p><p>
I hadn’t noticed I was crying until I felt a warm hand rest itself on my cheek. Their thumb wiped away my tears. Raising my head, I see my younger self fading. Through my blurry vision, I see everyone I’ve come in contact with throughout this journey, everyone that I’ve lost. Ashely’s sitting upright, taking the place of my previous self. When she leans in, connecting our foreheads, I hiccup and can feel my face heat up. “I’m-”</p><p>
“Okay. It’s okay,” Saamuki told me.</p><p>
A big, blue star beat down on the three of us as we headed towards the cathedral, the tallest, winding building poking up from the city resting on the other side of this massive brick wall. Its shadow would’ve covered Syco’s entire growing army easily. A handful of guards watched us from above as Syco conversed with the two standing in front of the entrance that was encased by a small, green forcefield. As he was showing them his screen, I took note of the wall. It’s stained with gunk, which attracted a swarm of flies. One of which departed from the others and buzzed towards the forcefield. Upon touching it, it was vaporized. I make a sound, which gets the attention of one of the guards above. Well, my brain tells me it does. I know it’s just a coincidence, but I’m still worried. Through his helmet, I imagine his eyes. I imagine him glaring down at me, looking past this disguise. I am a Talten now. I got my crown to do so twelve minutes ago, but my brain rationalized that he could see I was human and he was reaching for his blaster rather than his companion to tell a joke. I imagined him aiming it at me. He shoots. I flinch.</p><p>
We’re inside. I breathe out. The cobble roads surround hundreds of medieval-style homes. A few citizens walk past us. Three held candles. One of which whips his groaning horse, to pull his carriage full of whatever could’ve been in those barrels faster. A thick, grey cloud puffed out of them with each bumpy step. The unwilling creature isn’t what horses look like on Earth. It has two stubby legs and a fat, round body. It’s as big as a horse, though. So, I just label it as one.</p><p>
In this small, tight square the homes are withering. Some of the roofs and doors are molding. A few have cracked windows. One of which has completely shattered. If I had a nose right now it would’ve withered away too, vaporized like that poor fly. This area is completely unsanitary. Between two houses, in the corner of my eye, are flies circling what I hope is just a sleeping, single toothed old man with a mouth full of murky water and a single, torn, and stained page of a newspaper covering his crotch. Without it he’s naked.</p><p>
Syco seemingly ignores the scenery around us, walking with confidence, and especially without concern. The two of us follow without question, but I can’t ignore the contrast between our previous and new settings. Underneath one of the many bridges connecting the impoverished to the affluent portions of the city, is a clear, blue river. Riding through it from within a bright, red Gondola is a man proudly singing, letting the universe know of his lovely voice, as he steers his boat. Before I’m able to fall behind from the others I turn around, making sure what I saw previously was real. There it is. A line separated these two completely different worlds, one side somber and the other is the cleaner, brighter, and happier one I am suddenly engulfed by. It made my heart drop, but I didn't get to settle on the feeling for long before I needed to catch up to the others.</p><p>
Walking past a bridge that stretched above us, we entered another square. In this square, paper lanterns pointed down on us. Lined above them are flags, which had a white circle and a black dot in their centers. Two children, laughing, ran past us with a belt in their hands. Running towards them not too far behind is a guard trying to hold up his pants and shouting for the two little, young thieves to slow down. Once both parties turn a corner the ruckus dies and the onlookers besides us return to whatever they were doing. Although, the moment is forever written into everyone's mornings. Two women chuckle at each other about it. An elderly man sweeping his shop’s doorway now smiles. Another man, but this one is leaning against one of the nearby buildings, shakes his head from side to side in amusement as he plays with the golden coin between his gloved hand.</p><p>
Looking at Saamuki, I see she too is jovial, She smiles. I imagine her feeling nostalgic. Now looking at Syco, his face remains stiff, but for some reason, I feel like he’s just as nostalgic as her.</p><p>
Cold as ever, he continues towards the cathedral. Sunlight shoots through the stained glass in the center of its highest steeple, causing a familiar depiction to reflect onto us. A white, geometric figure, floating above a burning city looks down at the people below. They bow to the figure with tears in their eyes. They’re being forced to submit, and after everything that I’ve learned, I have a strong guess on who the white figure could be.</p><p>
Syco swings open its doors. The sound when they close lets out a deafening echo. Rows upon rows of pews are empty but one. The one at the very end has a hunched figure whispering to himself, praying I presume. The cathedral somehow managed to be even bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. It’s dark. Candles are clasped between the statues of elderly women dressed in long, hooded robes. They are evenly spaced across either side of the cathedral. The flickering glow from their small torches makes it look as if their lips are moving. With each flicker, their frowns deepen. If they hadn’t been sculpted with hoods their eyes would’ve looked judgingly at us, right into our souls. At the front, the very end of this red rug we’re awkwardly standing on, are four statues bowing in front of a genderless, youthful, and cloaked figure with the same symbol as the flags outside etched into the center of their chest.</p><p>
The leader of this mission strides forward solemnly towards the only other person here. We continued to follow him without question, but it’s here that I realize he never told us why we’re here. One of the few men he had on his ship came into our room, in the middle of our mourning, to alert us we landed on this planet and that Syco wanted the two of us to tag along. The two of us didn’t even look at each other. We just accepted it.</p><p>
Although, maybe it's because the two of us shared distrust for Syco, so we wanted to remain on his good side. He was our enemy for so long. He was my enemy for so long. I was angry at him for so long, yet just barely two hours ago he wants to befriend rather than be a foe. No, more like coworkers, but is it right for me to feel this way about him? There’s a reason why Mikrovos acted the way he did when Syco and my paths crossed for the first time. Now he and everyone else is in his control, being enslaved by him. Everyone says he’s mad. At one point there wasn’t any way for me to argue, no reason as well, but a mad person doesn’t cry like that. He’s troubled just like- I shake off that thought, stopping myself before I start agreeing that we’re equals.</p><p>
We’re heading towards the hunched figure, the reason why we came all the way here. Before we’re in front of them they have already started speaking, “Finally we get to meet.” When we’re in front of him, he continues, “I’ve heard a lot of things about you, but it’s only now I see your face.”</p><p>
At this distance, I can see the figure is wearing the same armor as the guards outside, but it’s worn. Parts of the metal are scraped, the same insignia I’ve seen all around this place has just about faded from his torn shirt. The figure is a fungus-like alien species. His eyes are two yellow, rhombuses that look as if they’re glowing because of his dull, brown, and warty skin.</p><p>
“Same to you, Shiitakee.”</p><p>
This gets a smirk out of Shiitakee, but unlike the late Cala’s smirk, this one is friendly rather than depreciating. He leans forward and places his arms on the back of the chair in front of his pew. “Congratulations on your promotion.”</p><p>
“A little late for that, but  you’ve already congratulated me the day after it happened.”</p><p>
“Yes, I did.” He rummages into his shirt and pulls out a cigarette. Shiitakee slides it between his cracked lips and slides a finger across the chair. A flame swallows the edge of the finger. This new character brings the finger to his cigarette and lights it. Blowing out the finger and blowing smoke into Syco’s face, causes Syco to step back, cough, and try to blow the smell away. “Always the straight man, Syco,” Shiitakee continued with a snicker and a cough.</p><p>
“And that’s what you get.” He coughs again, but Shiitakee continues to smoke. Syco continues to act unconcerned, but he’s clearly amused. Until a few moments ago they were strangers, but now they’re acting like they are childhood friends. Shiitakee blows a few more times, which gets a few more reactions out of Syco. Their back and forth, which turns into laughter, has Saamuki and I turn to look at each other. I shrug at her.</p><p>
Eventually, they stopped. I knew right then and there it became serious again. Shiitakee moves his head back to look at the dome that is the ceiling. “It’s been years since this place has heard voices other than my prayers. The last mass was about the time I got into contact with you, Sy.”</p><p>
“I was wondering why you wanted us to meet here, the center of your city.”</p><p>
“Ironically, it’s the safest place to meet.”</p><p>
“I could see that now, so what was so important that we had to meet in person?”</p><p>
Shiitakee lowers his head. His focus is back on Syco. “Until recently I would’ve scheduled this meeting to be like the others, but I knew this deserved for you to see in person.” Again, he goes into his shirt, but when he pulls out his hand this time he motions for Syco to move his hands towards him. Syco raises his eyebrow, but Shiitakee’s expression remains serious. So, Syco compiles without any more hesitation. Shiitakee then hands him something. Carefully, unwrapping his hands, he sees Shiitakee handed him a compass. Of course, it’s unlike any compass found on Earth. Alien symbols circle its edges and instead of a needle, there’s a purple crystal at its center. As I try to look over Syco’s shoulder, wanting to inspect it more, I can also see underneath the crystal is the same motif I’ve seen over and over again.</p><p>
There couldn’t have been anyone in here besides us, but Syco questions in a hushed voice, “Is this?”</p><p>
His friend nods.</p><p>
“How did you get it?”</p><p>
“I,” he coughs, but this time blood comes out, “A Watcher.”</p><p>
The two of us standing behind him were hit with a shock. Saamuki’s eyes are wide and if I had mine they would be too.</p><p>
“Are you insane, Shiitakee?” Syco’s voice is still quieter than usual, but he’s clearly mad. Maybe a bit disappointed too.</p><p>
“Hah. Just like you I am.” The figure that was moments ago teasing Syco, which just winked at him, is one I finally realize is dying.</p><p>
With a grunt, and after putting the compass into his pocket, steps over the chair to get to Shiitakee who I’m also now noticing has his feet stepping on a huge pile of long-dead cigarette buds. Shiitakee tries fighting Syco’s attempt at grabbing and slinging him onto his shoulder.</p><p>
“What do you think you’re doing,” Shiitakee asked as his cigarette rested in one of the corners of his lips.</p><p>
After bringing his dying companion to his shoulder, Syco takes a moment to reply with, “I’m not going to let you die like this, Shii.”</p><p>
“Are you insane?”</p><p>
“You already know the answer to that.”</p><p>
Syco continues towards the doors and ignores Shiitakee’s continued thrashing. The two of us, who have been third-wheeling together, follow right behind them. Right, when Syco is about to push open the doors and Shiitakee has stopped fighting, all of the candles go out in unison. I get a bad feeling. We’re not in the dark because of my crown’s fire and Saamuki’s recently lit hands. The latter of which should be brighter than the now blown out candles, but the room is much darker now. It’s as if we were suddenly transported in the middle of a black hole.</p><p>
“You have something that belongs to me,” a voice with a mix of other, varying voices growled from where we just walked away from.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0035"><h2>35. Chapter 35</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Just like the others, their outfit is the same, but the mask is no longer whole, pure. Gold drips down from its crack and between the two halves are too many gray, lifeless eyes staring directly at us from such a tiny opening.</p><p>
Syco flat out ignored the fear the rest of us were shaking out as the Watcher’s fists began to glow, “It’s strength also proved to be its weakness. Just because this place offers the most seclusion in your city doesn’t mean it’s the safest.”</p><p>
“You’re scolding me for something you believed as well,” the man with minutes left to live retorted.</p><p>
“No, I was just pointing out another mistake I have to make right.”</p><p>
“Again, I must point out that you have something that belongs to me. Hand it now before I do something I will be punished for later, Syco,” the Watcher ordered with glowing gold eyes and fists surrounded by another alien language.</p><p>
The leader of this now faltered mission starts again, “When I was young, I was blindly obedient to my predecessor because he was just another manufactured loyalist like you. Both, while I didn’t understand at the time, I feared because I was brainwashed to believe in your corrupted righteousness.”</p><p>
“And I suppose that’s your way of telling me no.”</p><p>
“Quick to the point, but I suppose that’s because of all the different souls that make you.”</p><p>
If what Syco said is true that would explain what happened to The Speaker’s people, him mentioning: “Free the blood”, the unknown whereabouts of Saamuki’s late sister, and why Syco was on her homeworld. Although, this raises more questions than it does answers.</p><p>
Saamuki and I are the closest to the Watcher, but the distance between us is great. This observation doesn’t stop our hands from shaking. Her flickering flames matched my heartbeat and my now preoccupied hands, which are wrapped around my staff, are quickly being coaxed in sweat. This makes it even harder to keep my weapon still. It nearly slips out of my grip when the Watcher starts speaking again.</p><p>
I can feel the trio’s eyes on me and see the Watcher’s eyes follow my frantic movements in stopping staff from making an embarrassing loud clang as it says, “The Lords of the Universe are onto you, but I guess you’re going to have to see them a lot sooner than they initially planned.”</p><p>
Its movements are swift, noiseless, as it jumps from statue to statue. My mind goes blank. Before it could punch my throat someone tugged me away and dragged me out of the cathedral. Turning to the culprit, I see Syco pulling both me and Saamuki out of there. He jumps and lands onto the square, cracking and displacing its cobble. We get a few questioning looks, but they get their answers soon enough when the Watcher steps out and ominously stands in the middle of the cathedral’s doorway. The two women from before giggle as they come out of one of the alleyways with new dresses, but once they take note of the Watcher they don’t hesitate to turn back around. Whereas the old man from earlier throws his broom to the side and slams the door to his store shut. The other man motions he doesn’t want anything to do with this and turns to the alleyway to his left. Everyone else, as the square became bustling in the short time we were inside, screamed and shouted.</p><p>
Someone who I would’ve never thought I’d label as my savior pushes through a couple’s proposal. He ignores their cusses and a few other sailor mouths once we get to an overcrowded road. Saamuki covers her eyes and Shiitakee grips Syco’s back roughly as he runs through more of the crowd and jumps over a carriage he nearly tipped over. Because of this rush, some kid cries as their balloon flies away, a domino effect happens with the older crowd as one after the other falls, and the guard that got his belt back finds interest in us. He orders for us to stop, but of course, Syco doesn’t comply. In reaction, the guard shoots. Syco dodges with a surprising amount of ease as he’s having to carry three people that would probably match his weight. More screams come with each of the guard's unsuccessful shots. I see one of them ricochet from one of Syco’s horns to a nearby potted plant, which I find myself to mutter, “Of course,” before I turn around.</p><p>
He jumps over the bridge we strolled through not too long ago. The gondolier from before was flirting with the woman leaning against the bridge’s rail closest to him, but with the guard somehow managing to keep pace with Syco to continue his ongoing, failing pursuit she jumped and thankfully landed into his arms. At least we didn’t ruin another pair of lovers today.</p><p>
It was the last distance between us and somewhat freedom. We still needed to get to the ship before the Watcher got to us because both of Syco’s hands are too preoccupied to alert them of our situation. Another at least is I think the guard ran out of breath, so that’s one less trouble out of the way. Although, it was very minor trouble. I wish I could say the same about the white-cloaked figure who suddenly reappeared before us, before the gate. The reactions of the poor alert the guards surrounding the wall of the trouble that’s about to ensure. Upon noticing the Watcher each takes a few, hesitant steps back. Even the ones on the other side of the giant fly zapper feared for their lives. One of them shakes, which is joined by a handful from above. I hear one pray.</p><p>
“Move, Watcher,” Syco ordered what he once feared.</p><p>
It laughs. I count how many voices it’s using to do so. Five. No, ten. Twenty. Twenty souls have encased in that thing!</p><p>
“You’re not like your predecessor,” the Watcher complimented as it moved away from the forefield.</p><p>
Placing one of his still glowing hands in front of us. The guard chasing us appears between us. Although, there’s something amiss about him. Not only is he shivering and weeping, which are understandable reactions, but he’s translucent. My heart drops when I figure out what I’m actually seeing.</p><p>
“His soul will make up for the trouble that happened today.” As quickly as the poor guard appeared, he screamed as he disappeared with the flick of the Watcher’s wrist.</p><p>
“Just a moment ago you sought out retribution.”</p><p>
Its hands no longer glowed. It placed them behind its back, tilted its head, and smiled through its numerous eyes. “That I did, but your reaction…You’re of interest now, Syco. You’re different,” turning its attention towards the guards behind it, “What are you peasants waiting for? Remove that barrier at once.”</p><p>
A few stumbling later and the dirt road and the two guards standing between it no longer tinted green. Before Syco dares to step forward, the Watcher bows and then fades away. A heartbeat later and he doesn’t waste any more time. He zooms out of there without another thought, but I do. With more answers I’m given the more questions I find myself making, but I fear for the day they’re all answered.</p><p>
After questions over Syco’s sweaty predicament, him brushing off that repairs are completed, and praise over how successful the war is becoming, he looks at me and sees my weariness. He orders everyone, but his second-in-command to leave us. They do.</p><p>
Syco turns to him and orders for him to get a vial. He salutes and then runs towards wherever and whatever he’s talking about as we get out of his grip and as he gently sets Shiitakee down, but as careful as Syco is, Shiitakee grunts in pain and spits his cigarette at Syco’s face. Syco lets it hit.</p><p>
Clutching his side, he barks, “You idiot. Couldn’t let me die in the one place I wanted to?”</p><p>
“I’ll take that as thanks.” The second-in-command comes back with what Syco asked for. From where I stood, it looked like an empty medicine bottle. He’s dismissed soon after and Syco turns back to Shiitakee as soon as he leaves.</p><p>
“What the hell is that?”</p><p>
Ignoring his question, he clicks open the vial underneath Shiitakee’s nose, just below his nostrils. What comes next is a horrible cough and another cuss from the mushroom-like alien species, but his hand lets go of his side soon after. His eyes pop open and he immediately sits upright and lifts his shirt. Between his protruding ribs and pelvis is a bruise healing before our eyes, causing him to look back at the man that now saved him for the second time within the past thirty minutes.</p><p>
Through his shock, he mentions what we just witnessed, “It’s healed.”</p><p>
The Tauvox before us repeats what he’s told me many days ago to Shiitakee, “Isn’t it amazing what technology can do?”</p><p>
There I was staring up at the ceiling in one of the hundreds of bedrooms that was previously used by some Tauvox with Saamuki’s back facing me. It didn’t take her long to fall asleep. When her head hit our shared bed, she knocked out. We just lived through one hell of a day, so I don’t blame her. Knowing what I had to do to finally get some sleep, I got up. The bed creaked because of it. With Saamuki mumbling under her breath, my heart dropped, thinking I woke her up. Instead—thank God—she’s merely talking in her sleep. Most of it is incoherent. I let out a quiet sigh of relief, but she mentions Mikrovos. She then proceeds to tear up and clutch the bed, so I softly brush the back of my hand across her cheek, wiping away some of her tears. Eventually, she calms down. With that out of the way, I’m able to head towards the door, tiptoeing past the dinner that’s gone cold as I’ve yet to take a bite.</p><p>
The hallway is empty. Of course, it’s empty. There are only about thirty people on this ship, but I’m filled with so much relief because of it. I could only handle being around so many Tauvoxes at once. I turned a few corners and headed down a few more hallways. Sometime later and I’m in front of that infamous room, where I thought I understood who Syco was. It’s the place, which I, of course, didn’t know at the time, first came into contact with nanites.</p><p>
The light from my crown and the purple glow on the other side of him isn’t enough light for this dark room, but it’s a more preferred atmosphere than the one the Watcher created back at the cathedral. His hands and back faced me in this dark room, which should’ve caused my fight or flight to kick in, but it didn’t. I took one step towards him and he said, “Ah, I was wondering when you’d show.”</p><p>
There were so many questions I wanted to ask like about the nanites and if they had side effects. Could they make you do things you usually wouldn’t do like imagining the shadowy figure fading in and out right next to you? A good question would be about Watchers. I don’t ask any of these because the source of that purple glow has me to wonder, “Why is that compass so important?”</p><p>
Syco turns to me, the crystal within the compass glows onto him, and rather than getting straight to the point he answers, “No mortal knows where the Lords reside. Theories and rumors spread that they reside inside a wormhole. Others said they live on a planet far away from all the known quadrants. One wrote a book on the possibility they resided in a parallel universe, but as much science has advanced since its publishing it's yet to remain anything other than true insanity.”</p><p>
“I’m not a child, Syco. I don’t have all the time in the universe for your constant need for monologuing.”</p><p>
He motions for me to be patient. Surprisingly I oblige. “Why would God separate themselves from their followers? What is so fearsome that even God fears? I know the Lords aren’t God, an abstract concept, but you get the initial metaphor?”</p><p>
I nod, but because of his silence, I realize he’s waiting to hear my input to his first two questions. “I don’t know.”</p><p>
“God—the Lords—fear their own followers because those two concepts were merely created out of desires. Desires aren’t like wild animals. They can be tamed and destroyed,” he steps towards me, but I don’t flinch.</p><p>
I look into his now purple eyes as I ask, “Why are you telling me this?”</p><p>
“I’m telling you this because you still fear. Desires can be dangerous, but they can also be beneficial. We both desire the same thing, freedom. Focus on that, the future we desire, and your fears will belong in the past. This,” his eyes are glued to the compass, “will lead us to where the Lords reside. Truly amazing, isn’t it? It’s only a matter of time before I dethrone them. For you to witness such a legendary, pivotal moment in history you cannot be weak. While you have proven to be strong on both the outside and inside, you still foolishly decide to continue the war within yourself. I can help you before it’s too late, but you have to make that call.”</p><p>
Again, I look into his eyes. I then focus on my breathing. It’s not pounding. That’s why I tell him, “Okay.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0036"><h2>36. Chapter 36</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Syco’s insanity is explored and the mind of the unnamed Space Explorer is as well.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Chapters 36-40 are part 8</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Panting. Grip slipping. Knees shaking. A cough. Another cough, but this one has me spit out blood. The back of my hand wipes it away roughly as my eyes remain on the still figure before me. He has yet to budge one of his arms. They’ve been resting behind his back this whole time. It’s mostly been effortless dodges from him, a reenactment from last time.</p><p>
Arm stretched back, the bow’s string strains. Its threads twist and tighten against one another. Not a single arrow has made it within an inch of his vicinity. Scattered throughout the floor are hundreds of arrows. They looked like constellations, a night sky. I could spot Leo and Hercules easily before their arrows died. For the rest, I wasn’t fast enough to recognize.</p><p>
A wave of darkness swallowed us whole. If it weren’t for the arrow in the corner of my eye, I wouldn’t be able to see the very calloused hand holding it and Syco’s now goldish blue eyes. “You are not a child, or so you say. You do not look like a child, I’ll give you that, but you act like one because you feel you are one. Guessing by that look, you already knew that.”</p><p>
“I don’t need to hear another one of your psychological analyses right now.”</p><p>
“Yes, you don’t need to be reminded at this moment, but later you will need to read my thesis carefully,” he motions for the activation of his screen, “We are done here. I have to tend to some egregious math now.”</p><p>
“Just like that? But you’re the one that started this by kicking me in the face.” I pointed at the pounding mark.</p><p>
“This was to let out your frustrations, which you’ll thank me for later,” he lifts his head away from his screen to follow the direction of my finger, “Some of my frustrations too.” His attention is turned back to the screen. His typing is slow but calculating. This is a fight I lost but it’s not like I was ever going to win. I turn around and before I push open the doors he continues, “All Tauvoxes are the same. You’ve grown to see me like him. I know because you held back, but I hope this gets through your head before it’s too late, the past is just as important as the present. This knowledge will help with your future.”</p><p>
The door shut behind me, echoing throughout the hallway before me. Anyone an earshot away would be alerted, a Tauvox I worried specifically. Between my grumbling over how I should’ve made a quieter exit and how I should’ve pressed for more answers rather than letting him hand me more questions, I hear footsteps heading towards me. They’re much lighter than a Tauvox’s, but that doesn’t mean it’s not troublesome. I get out my dagger and staff and charge towards them.</p><p>
Shiitakee is standing on the other side with his arms raised. Behind him is Saamuki with blue irises instead of her eyes being fully engulfed in blue. “It’s okay. He’s with me,” she whispered her explanation.</p><p>
“What are you two doing here? Last time I saw you were sleeping,” I whispered back.</p><p>
Footsteps, much heavier than either of the two's before me, cut Saamuki’s first response. Rewording, “I’ll explain when we get back to the room.”</p><p>
The two Tauvoxes didn’t pay us any mind, but my two companions did for them. They were tense for the few seconds we needed to get past them. I heard Saamuki’s throat tighten and the crack of my other companion’s knuckles. I knew better than to make this noticeable. Still, it didn’t stop me from wondering what could’ve happened in the short amount of time I was with Syco that caused this to happen.</p><p>
With all these questions, I instead let the woman in front of me start rather than letting myself start by asking. “Do you remember our conversation about ship addresses?” I nod and try to block out Shiitakee’s comments about how we were given a much cleaner room. “At that time, I told you how resonance is the most important part. Well, resonance is created by how the ship reacts to its crystal. Therefore, resonance should be different for each ship.”</p><p>
“O-Okay and?”</p><p>
“This ship’s resonance is odd. It’s not like the others.” Pulling out her screen, she shows me way too much math. Her finger scrolls down to a simple graph with an x- and y-axis. “You see that line over there? That’s the average resonance for one hundred ships, one of which is ours, but the one for this ship isn’t part of that because I couldn’t find it at first.”</p><p>
“I think you’re boring her just like you did with me,” the lanky mushroom cut in as he tapped the window.</p><p>
Her middle and index fingers close together, causing the graph to zoom out. Now the z-axis is shown. “That line is this ship’s resonance. It’s not being emitted into space. It’s going somewhere else,” she zooms out just enough for me to see a dot lying on the other end of the line representing this ship’s resonance, “It’s going here. Do you trust me?”</p><p>
“After everything, of course, I do.”</p><p>
“We figured out what’s been eating the resonance. I could show you without getting up close and personal to him.”</p><p>
“Him?”</p><p>
“It’s better if I just show you. Thankfully for you, I’m confident now, but this process relies on trust. If you don’t do as I ask then you will die because what we’re about to do will separate your mind from your body.”</p><p>
“Hold on a minute. You didn’t tell me about the whole dying thing,” he interrupted her for the second time.</p><p>
For the second time, Saamuki ignores him, “But if you’d rather not risk that, and I fully understand if you don’t, then I can simply tell you right here and right now.”</p><p>
“Whoever that dot is must be important, right? Besides, I think if you just tell me I’d probably be asking you too many questions. I need answers, not more questions right now, Saamuki.”</p><p>
She looks at the man that was her guinea pig prior. He responds, “Yeah. I got it. I’m going to watch over your bodies. Don’t worry there’s no way I’m going to let anyone get to them while you two are away.”</p><p>
“Another soul will watch over our bodies anyways.”</p><p>
“And I won’t question that. It’s not the strangest thing I’ve heard,” his eyes make contact with my own, “Trust me I’ve heard stranger things from Syco.”</p><p>
Turning back to me, she asks me to lay down because she explains, “You need full concentration for this to work. You need to find something to latch onto, so you can easily go back to your body once we finish. This could be a memory, or something physical. It has to be something you have a strong connection with.”</p><p>
Strange, that’s what this is. I could feel her body heat as she interlaced our fingers. Our eyes being closed and hearing her mutter a foreign language under her breath made this even more awkward, but I have to stop focusing on unimportant details like these. Only a child would focus on those kinds of things. I’m a fully grown woman now. I have to be. I have to focus on my crown, or else I end up dying the least heroic way possible, stupidity.</p><p>
I didn’t realize I was squeezing my eyes shut until I heard her say, “Relax.” When I do, she compliments me. “You can open your eyes now.”</p><p>
My hands are transparent. Lying directly in my line of sight, past the see-through small walls that are my hands are Saamuki’s and my bodies laying down just like we left them. She floats towards me and once in front of me she goes on to explain in more detail about this predicament, but I ignore her. Okay, I know that’s not the smart thing to do, but this whole experience is just too strange to not focus on. It’s frighteningly cool.</p><p>
The same blue as Saamuki’s irises glows around me. As I move my hands, the glow follows but it’s a second off. Very trippy.</p><p>
Saamuki places her hand in front of me. I take it and I let her lead me out of the room, past our grumbling bodyguard who huffs to himself with his arms crossed above his chest and back leaned against the door, “I thought you were kidding about the whole human thing.”</p><p>
We went through a lot of floors. It didn’t feel like anything. Just one quick motion that included going right through some Tauvoxes, one of which was curled up in bed, but speaking of Tauvoxes, the further we went down the ship the less prominent they became. There was no one in the engine room, the most important room in the ship. If that huge, glowing green crystal can power this entire ship it could also certainly destroy this ship. I could expect this lack of care from Syco’s predecessor, but not Syco. Syco’s proven to be smarter than that brute.</p><p>
“Before we continue you sure you have something to latch on to?”</p><p>
“Mhm.”</p><p>
“Then, we'll proceed to the room underneath.”</p><p>
From the brightest room, we descended into the darkest room, somehow even darker than Syco’s room. He laid in front of us. Back pressed against a metal table with long, thick glowing green tubes puncturing into his body and two going into his mouth, is Syco’s predecessor and one of the only men that’ll have a place in the back of my mind. His lower lip has been torn and his nose is crooked, which must be from his final run-in with Mikrovos. Also, his skin is a sickly green, too many shades lighter from the crystal above. His eyes are closed, but his chest is moving. He’s breathing. The monster is breathing. This sick thing is still alive. I yank myself free of Saamuki’s grip and bring out the sword. I’m on top of him when I bring the sword back, building up the anticipation, but she grabs my wrist before I can. I turn to her.</p><p>
“You can’t kill him here, but if you are to you may lose your connection.”</p><p>
I set my sword down and recompose myself, but I bring my questions out, “How is he still alive? Why is he still alive?”</p><p>
Frustratingly, she’s cut off again, but the reason she is a compensation. Syco strides out of the doorway, the light from the other side shines onto him, giving him an angelic presence. “It’s been too long since I’ve last visited you,” he admitted as the door behind him shut.</p><p>
The Tauvox on life support manages to open an eye. In the sliver between his eyelids, I can see his eye first focus on his successor then jump to us. There’s no way he could see us. He’s probably just measuring up the room, the atmosphere between them, but it still felt like he did. It felt like at any moment he could pluck out his tubes and rampage towards us, towards me to finish what he started. I don’t have Mikrovos this time, after all.</p><p>
“It’s very pretentious about how the 'The' part of your title is capitalized, but you are a pretentious bastard, after all.”</p><p>
In response, The Commander mumbles something indistinguishable.</p><p>
“Oh, to hear your voice again. To have you lecture me. To have you encourage my insanity. Those were long, miserable years.” Syco’s finger slid up from the tube puncturing the center of the much bulkier Tauvox’s chest to his throat. He clenched it, but not enough for the man lying beneath his grip to begin choking. “I should kill you right here and right now without a single regret, finish the job Mikrovos started, but I won’t. Now, this isn’t out of mercy and it especially isn’t out of sympathy. If it weren’t for the reason I’d push you out of an airlock. I’d watch the color leave from your face as you tried to grasp onto the last moments of your feeble life and I’d enjoy every single second. No. No, I won’t do it because I need you for further testing. Also, because I prefer you alive in my hands than in the Lords’ hands.”</p><p>
He lets go of his throat and has his screen reappear. He shows his predecessor all the math he’s done as if his predecessor could speak and compliment him about his hard work. The dynamic is almost like that of a child and parent. “I almost have my theorem done, but,” he groans, “I told you this already. I told all of you this already. I keep repeating this over and over!”</p><p>
Syco then throws his screen away. It fades away long before it could hit the ground. As it does, he presses his back against The Commander’s table and slowly descends. Before us, the current commander of the Tauvoxes sits behind his predecessor and places his hands over his face to ask what he knows the answer to, “If there is a God then what was the reason for making me insane?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0037"><h2>37. Chapter 37</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“The war...How long has it been? Forty years? Fifty? A century? Time has lost its touch on me, but even so, I still remember that day. It was raining that day. The assassination was quick. I’d like to think it was just a coincidence we bumped into each other,” Syco chuckles, “But your name...You had one. You went by Apulsion at that time. At that time, you were different. I’d like to think you were different. I’d like to think something changed you, that power changed you because it comforts me. It helps me cope with what I’ve done.”
</p><p>
With a sigh, he leans further back and looks up at the ceiling. Between his pause, before he continues, I move my hand towards him and as I do I see it glitching. It’s as if I’m a program rather than a human and that my code has become corrupted. “We have to go. I can barely keep us in this state,” Saamuki told me.</p>
<p>
“Why did I have to be there at that moment?” It’s the last thing I hear from him before Saamuki leads me out of there, out of the darkness and into the light. It’s difficult to readjust after being in the dark for so long. It’s bright again, sure. The lights are the same, sure, but none of this is the same. It’s dimmer. It’s darker. It’s not hot enough. I concluded as I touched the crown above my head and let its flames tickle against my bare skin.</p>
<p>
Shiitakee is fast asleep, mouth wide open, and is snoring against the door with drool dangling at the edge of his chin. So much for watching our bodies while we were away. Whatever. He wasn’t our only bodyguard, anyways. The other one is riling up the attitude that usually comes with Saamuki’s drunkenness. “Hey, this is more important than a sleeping mushroom.”</p>
<p>
Her eyes are still blue. “Yeah. Sorry. You’re right.”</p>
<p>
“As I was saying, when we found out we went straight to you. You needed to know as soon as possible.”</p>
<p>
“I wish I didn’t have to know. It’s not like I could sleep before, but now I definitely can’t sleep knowing he’s down there.”</p>
<p>
“The Commander isn’t the reason why we went through all of that. You’ve gone soft for Syco. I’d prefer a better way to tell you this, but you need a reality check.”</p>
<p>
“What are you talking about? I have not gone soft for Syco.”</p>
<p>
“I’m not going to argue with you about this because the face you’re making says you’ve realized this already. Syco will do anything to get what he wants. If he’s going to go so far as to do that to one of his own then what’s stopping him from doing that to us? Maybe even worse for us. We need to get the others back, but for right now we have to stay alert and you have to eat and get some shut-eye.”</p>
<p>
Of course, my stomach had to growl and I had to yawn to prove her point. I haven’t eaten in nearly a day and I fought both Cala and Syco on an empty stomach. I’m surprised I haven’t collapsed yet. I feel like I can keep going for another day, but I’d rather not risk that to prove her point even further. I bite my pride when I bite into the cold dinner.</p>
<p>
Each flake of meat was hard to bite into. It was jaw-straining. It was not worth it. I’m full now, but it tasted like rubber with a hint of charcoal. Would not try again, but I’m guessing I’m going to have to try it again, or at least another batch of bad cooking if I am to remain at Syco’s side. This got me to wonder how Mikrovos could eat like this every day for years on end. He’d get up at odd hours of the day, be asked to fight a group of strangers, or do some lackluster task and in return was served this garbage. At least I have Saamuki and now Shiitakkee at my side to help get me through this. Mikrovos never had anyone besides himself and that’s counting when he was still on his home planet. Ashley too. She has me or had me, but for a long time, she just had herself. I guess the rest of us too had no one for a long time. Millions of light-years away, but we share the same story. We all look different from one another. We let this dictate who we are and how we treat others. Because of this, we forget we’re all connected. We want to love, but we’re too scared to because we think love is a weakness. We always forget we’re all people and because of that, we hurt those we never meant to. All Tauvoxes are the same because they’re still people, but just like people, they’re still capable of hurting, Syco. Hurting eventually leads to immorality. Do I then punish you because you’ve hurt me for hurting others like Mikrovos? If I do I fear my choices won’t make me any different from the very questionable choices you’ve made. If I do then The Commander is next. I know my choices would be far worse towards him than with you, but once he’s slain it doesn’t change what he’s already done. I’d feel ecstatic, possibly the happiest I’ve ever felt, but after I’d feel empty. Would I also feel this when the Lords are also slain and you die by my hands? When all is said and done, is there an after worth writing about? If there is a God then what was the reason for giving me a mind that thinks this much?</p>
<p>
The atmosphere hasn’t changed since the last time I was here, but I have. I can see my breath, but I can feel my fingertips. I don’t need a spacesuit, but I need answers. A block of ice falls before me, cutting between the fog and covering the trekking shadow coming towards me. The figure smashes the ice and I grip the sword. His horns collide with my sword. Even though our height difference is great I’m able to throw him off of me using the blade. He hurls to my left and crashes into the ice, cracking the frozen water beneath him, but not enough to cause it to give in and him to plunge into the freezing bath awaiting him below. As he makes a second round, I fling arrows left and right at him. He dodges and catches one. A troubling inch before me and I thrust the dagger towards his chest, but he held the action before it could conclude by clutching the blade. I see his blood dripping from the cut, but something is off about it. I don’t get to figure out why just yet. Because of my shock, I’m caught off guard and thrown backward because of his fist smashing my jaw.</p>
<p>
Spitting a tooth out and whipping the blood, I’m finally able to get a good look at him as he waits patiently for me to return to our fight. He’s wearing what all the Watchers wear, a white cloak and faceless mask. Although, it doesn’t take much to know the one beneath the outfit isn’t a Watcher but a Tauvox. “I know what you are, but I don’t know who you are.”</p>
<p>
No longer patient, he makes a beeline towards me. I’m forced to connect my hands with his rather than connecting an arrow into one of his eyes. My hands shake as he forces my arms back towards my body. I try kicking him away but he, in turn, shatters my hands, causing me to scream, and in the middle of my agony he headbutts me. I don’t need to touch my forehead to know pieces of my skull are piercing through my skin and my blood is squirting out from the site. Even if I wanted to I couldn’t because he swings and I try to deflect each attack with the staff without getting blood in my eyes and screaming my heart out. My hands are healing, but they’re not fast enough.</p>
<p>
A kick to my face and I’m sent flying again. It hurts, but I use the staff to help me up and as I do a familiar set of symbols surrounds his fists. Instead of gold, they’re green, a familiar green. “No. This doesn’t make sense. I saw you. You’re on the verge of dying. How can you be here?”</p>
<p>
One second he’s twenty feet in front of me and the next he’s an inch in front of me. I move away from the blast, but I’m not fast enough. I stumble the rest of the way away with just one arm because the other was sacrificed in my poor attempt at fleeing. A thick, small trail of blood followed right behind me. It took all that I had to make it as far as I could, but that’s not saying much. It didn’t take The Commander much to catch up and grab me by my collar then throw me back onto the ice. My back slammed across its surface with such a force that the ice shattered.</p>
<p>
If it weren’t for the nanites I would’ve instantly died from hypothermia, but that doesn’t mean I’m not covered in goosebumps. I tried swimming back to the surface even if it meant being at The Commander’s mercy, but I just couldn’t. No matter how much I tried the black water surrounding me kept pulling me further down into its darkness.</p>
<p>
I’m so deep into its mass that the giant hole I came from became a spec in the black sky, yet I heard his laughter as if he is right next to me. I felt a hand wrap around my ankle. It didn’t take me much to look down and find he is underneath me. He’s the one that’s been pulling me down this whole time. I kick and thrash. I try plunging the staff into him, but he just grabs it with his other hand and uses that to pull me down even further. That’s when the fear kicked in.</p>
<p>
Heart racing. Vision fading. It all comes back to me. Again, I’m trapped underneath his grip. I close my eyes and scream.</p>
<p>
I groggily wake up. My eyes open to my staff not too far in front of me. It’s an arm’s length away. So, I reach for it, but my arm doesn’t get far because it’s been chained up to the wall. It hurts, but I keep trying to force it to budge. I do so until my cell door slides open. The Commander walks towards me. My breath hitches. Even with his mask I know he’s smirking. I know he’s enjoying every second of my struggling because he grabs the staff and stabs it into the floor. He leans on it and stares down at me.</p>
<p>
“Was it not enough from you the first time,” I asked in one breath as he lifted my chin to meet where his eyes should be. It took me a minute to realize I was sobbing.</p>
<p>
“Have you figured out who I am yet?” Hearing that voice abruptly halted my tears. My eyes went wide.</p>
<p>
“Mi-Mikrovos?”</p>
<p>
The Tauvox takes off his mask. Instead of Mikrovos, it’s Syco.</p>
<p>
I woke up for the second time. This time I’m greeted by Saamuki’s still blue eyes and Shiitakee covering his black eye. “Ow,” the latter exclaimed.</p>
<p>
“Are you okay,” she asked me.</p>
<p>
I sat up and inspected my hands. I have both and I’m no longer chained up.</p>
<p>
“How about if I’m okay? In case you’ve forgotten, she punched me straight in the eye a second ago. For someone so small, how can she have that much strength?”</p>
<p>
I apologize.</p>
<p>
Saamuki says after I do, “We just landed. Syco wants us to join him again.”</p>
<p>
“With Syco? Now? Do you think he’ll take a no this time?”</p>
<p>
“Unfortunately, probably not, but what happened in your dream?”</p>
<p>
I ignore her question by asking her a question of my own, “Did he at least say why this time?”</p>
<p>
“No. It was one of his men that came into our room. Once he relayed Syco’s request he turned around and left. I didn’t get the chance to ask anything.”</p>
<p>
“Then,” I sigh, “let’s get whatever he has planned over with.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0038"><h2>38. Chapter 38</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>From head to toe, they’re green. That’s because their outfits are made out of leaves. Their cloaks, pointy hats, bandages that covered from wrist to elbow and ankle to knee are torn pieces of what was once an enormous leaf. They bowed before the four of us. Syco and Saamuki followed, leaving Shiitakee and me to look at each other and wonder if we’re supposed to bow as well. By the time we decided to join they came back up, having the two of us shrug at each other. The one with the sharpest hat, who is in line with Syco and manages to have an even pointer face than him, raises their arms. Their cloak is raised with this action and with it I can see red symbols all over their chest. It’s a sight I’ve seen before.</p><p>
“Syco, it is a pleasure to have you return after all this time. We have heard so many great things about you since your departure. What brings you here again with new faces, I must add?”</p><p>
“I want to do the trial again, but this time with her,” he nudges in my direction.</p><p>
“Ah, with the human. What a fascinating choice, Syco.”</p><p>
Syco didn’t say much when we reunited. He didn’t comment about how I was avoiding eye contact with him. He only said two things. The first thing he said was to remain human. No disguises. The second thing was a question and it was directed towards Shiitakee and his black eye.</p><p>
“I’d rather not discuss it, but this wouldn’t have happened if you just listened to me by dropping me off on the next planet over.”</p><p>
This planet is just like Earth only things are comically massive. Even Syco is an ant compared to it all. A pebble on Earth is a boulder on this planet. The grass ahead is like skyscrapers and the trees around us are like mountains. This meant the walk to the treehouses, their village, was long and tiresome. I should’ve used the time to ask Syco what the trial is, but I didn’t. That dream had become my focus. I played it over and over again and each time I drifted further and further away from Syco’s side.</p><p>
I was the last one to leave the thick greenery and step foot on the makeshift elevator, which is a basket that was meticulously created by intertwining—nearly rubbery—tree bark with a long rope triple knotted around its handle. After Pointy Face latched the door behind me, they clapped once and the basket began to lift. I could hear the string’s tension as the ten of us were being pulled up. The wind began to brew the further we went up, causing the basket to sway. We must’ve been fifty feet in the air when what looked like a butterfly flew past us. If I had to guess its wingspan it was double Cala’s, which meant as it flapped its wings all too close to us the basket’s swinging quickened a frightening amount. It got reactions from Saamuki and Shiitakee, a few grunts and groans. Pointy Face called for the two to calm down. They said that anything breaking is near zero percent. Not quite zero and not quite the comfort they needed. I was quiet while this happened because I just needed my hands to show off my emotions. They hooked onto the railing. There’s no way I could die from this, but the thought of the rope snapping and me turning into a pile of mush once I hit the ground made me uneasy. The pain would be unimaginable. Still, that doesn’t mean I’m scared. Surprisingly, I’m not. Syco must’ve read me wrong because he placed his hand onto my shoulder, hoping to comfort me. I flinched and he retracted his hand. I turned to him with my now seasick face. He looked back at me. I could see the hurt and a hint of something else in his eyes before he looked away.</p><p>
Our feet stepped foot onto the ground. The Speaker’s voice comes out of Saamuki for a moment. From the looks of everyone’s faces, no one noticed but me. Shiitakee muttered a prayer. I take another look at Syco, but his back is facing me. He places his arms behind his back as Pointy Face, who’s now our tour guide, leads us away from the tallest of his people. That broad-shouldered cluster of muscle was the one pulling us up. The scowl on his face makes our reactions justified. He notices my stare and I scamper away before I can cause our concerns to become the future.</p><p>
The tour guide, the architect behind this entire village and has repeated so about a dozen times in the past five minutes, points out way too many unnecessary details. They point out everything about the bystanders in eyesight from their occupation to their hobbies and the patterns carved into every inch of the village, which was in itself another, but obviously, much larger carving. The trees around us have been carved into to make homes, a library, our tour guide’s office, and the building we’re heading towards. It’s on the other side of this bridge, meaning we get another chance to gamble with our lives. At least now there aren’t any freakishly large butterflies, but the creaking with every step we took across the bridge is worrisome. This all has been quite something to be prideful about. Still, the three of us aren’t as animated as last time. Shiitakee is calm, but I imagine hundreds of prayers going through his head. The Speaker once again comes back, but their voice dies soon after. I, on the other hand, am focused on Syco’s calm demeanor as I walk in his shadow. He can be so composed publicly, but behind closed doors be so broken. Is that why I had that dream? No, there was more to the dream besides him and there is more to him than I first thought. That hidden expression in his eyes frustrates me because I can’t determine what it was.</p><p>
The tree’s rings slope down to its center. At its center, which a single ray of sunlight beams onto, is a shimmering bowl filled with red paint. The annoyingly, prideful founder of the village is the first to take a step towards the ominous spot in this dim room. Syco and I follow. The other two do too, but both only take one step forward before they’re halted by one of the other leaf people. “Only those that wish to run the trial shall proceed,” the one that stopped them disclosed firmly.</p><p>
I looked back at them. I was going to give them a thumbs up and an awkward smile to let them know they just have to wait for a little bit and nothing bad will happen once whatever the trial could be is over, but I didn’t want to lie and be hopeful on the outside but worried on the inside. So, I simply turn back around and continue towards the light.</p><p>
Syco and I sat right across from each other. I’m looking into the bowl rather than at him. In the reflection not only do I see him looking past me, but I also see the leaf people that’s been following Pointy Face spread out throughout the circular room. They began to sing. It’s heavenly, almost as good as the gondolier, but they don’t get the same reaction out of me. It gets me more anxious.</p><p>
“Relax,” Syco murmured to me.</p><p>
Again, I look at him, but once again he’s not meeting my eyes. It hurt me more than it should’ve.</p><p>
With the background vocals coming to a close, the officiator announces with the bowl of paint now swishing in his right hand, “It has been more than fifty years since one of our own has done the trial, but five years since an off-worlder asked to do the trial. That very off-worlder sits before us. Syco and human, I pray that by the time you complete the trial your results are what you desire.”</p><p>
Several things I wanted to say about the whole desire part, but I kept my mouth shut. I hate how much I’ve gone soft for Syco. I’ve become submissive to the one I wanted to murder.</p><p>
They go on to paint the same symbols on their chest onto Syco’s upper body using their left hand. A simple red dot is pressed onto his forehead. Syco then closes his eyes. When Pointy Face turns to me, my heart drops. Thankfully, I don’t need to change out. The paint is placed on my clothes. That's definitely going to stain. When they place the same dot onto my forehead they continue, “Let the trial commence!”</p><p>
Opening my eyes, I find myself on a bed that feels familiar but I can’t figure out why. It’s soft and fluffy, but I know I shouldn’t focus on unnecessary things. I call out for Syco, but instead of his response, I hear two sets of voices that make me feel as if someone is tugging my heartstrings. I touch my face to see my hand is wet. I’m crying and when the faces behind those voices come into the bedroom, I find myself sobbing in their embrace.</p><p>
“Mom? Dad?” My voice cracked.</p><p>
My memories of them had long been erased, but my body moved for me. It knew them while I didn’t. Does that make me a terrible daughter?</p><p>
Apparently, I voiced the concern out loud because my dad responds with, “Of course not.”</p><p>
I grab the back of their shirts and squeeze them. I didn’t want them to leave. I wanted a family again. I wanted to feel love again.</p><p>
I knew they died, but I don’t remember how. Again, my body did.</p><p>
“You’re alive. How? The fire. The accident.”</p><p>
My parents looked at each other then looked at me as if I was crazy.</p><p>
In this reality, I had to have been because as my mother is caressing my cheek and wiping away the rest of my tears she tells me, “What are you going on about, sweetie? Did you have another bad dream?”</p><p>
Her voice is soothing. Her touch is soft. My body told me this is a ruse. This isn’t the mother I had. She was cruel. She treated me like a dog rather than her daughter, but is it wrong to want the angel before me? Is it wrong to want the lie that I’ve desired?</p><p>
I place my hand on top of hers and melt into her touch. I smiled when she placed a kiss on my forehead. This moment I’ve longed for is cut short when my dad scolds my mom, “Honey, she has to go to school in a few hours. She needs to get some rest. You don’t want her to fall asleep in the middle of her exam again now do you?”</p><p>
She lets go of me. It hurts. “I know, but we don’t get to see her all that much anymore. She’s always studying.”</p><p>
My dad replies, “She’ll still be here in the morning. Now come on. Let's go back to sleep.”</p><p>
After a sigh, she pecks me on the cheek, and the two head out. They tell me their goodbyes right before they shut my bedroom door.</p><p>
Rolling away from the door, I shut my eyes. I try to get some sleep, but the fires and the screams make me restless. I toss and turn, but with each attempt to brush them off they get worse and worse. The next one is more gruesome than the last.</p><p>
A scream bellows out of me. Everyone in the room looks at me. Two students a row behind me whisper to each other, they mock me, causing the only adult in this room to remind everyone that we’re taking an exam. Everyone needed to be facing their test and especially do it silently, or it’s an automatic zero. His voice sounds familiar. It’s condescending. The sounds of pencils scribbling paper, bubble sheets to be exact, tell me they do without hesitation. As those around me continue doing their tests, the teacher takes a knee in front of me and hushes to me, “Is everything alright at home?”</p><p>
Past him, the words on the board begin to mesh and eventually blur together. Shaking my head, they become readable once again. According to the board, we have less than an hour left.</p><p>
“Yeah. Sorry, I didn’t get much sleep last night.”</p><p>
“I can tell, but if you want I could write you a note for you to see Dr. Verr-”</p><p>
“No, it’s fine. Really.” That name caused the hand holding up my pencil to twitch. I mark outside of the answer key.</p><p>
“Okay. I just worry you’ll slow us down.”</p><p>
I could’ve snapped my pencil right then and there, blast out my disbelief over how a teacher could say that so nonchalantly, but someone taps my shoulder. I turn and see a cute blonde girl. Knowing me, I’ve probably become as red as a tomato. This gets her to giggle and in return gets me to smile awkwardly.</p><p>
“Eyes on your test, Ashley,” our teacher snapped.</p><p>
“Ashely,” I repeated under my breath.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0039"><h2>39. Chapter 39</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Saying her name felt like I was basking in the morning light in the middle of a meadow vegetated with dandelions and other such delicate flowers as an appropriately sized butterfly fluttered to the very tip of my nose but hearing her name was painful. I heard a gurgle, almost a growl coming from deep within my ear. Touching it, and I could see my fingertips covered in blood. It’s almost black, nearly as black as the figure in front of me. They look like they’ve been burnt alive. Their skin was eaten up by the hellish flames they crawled out of. Again, they’re faceless, and yet again I’m reaching out towards them. Instead of touching it, I’m touching her face. For the second time, she giggles, and yet again I’m blushing from such an artless reaction. My fingers scrunch up like how the paper would after the author behind its fresh lettering crumples it up, frustrated and discouraged that their intelligence has become that of an angsty teenager. In my panic, I noticed the ends of my fingers had faded back to pink. It's as if there wasn’t any blood to begin with, but rather the splitting and the spilling of my mind because I can no longer separate the real world from my imagination.</p><p>
“Sorry,” I apologized.</p><p>
“Why are you saying sorry? Usually, I start the hand-holding and such, the whole softness business, but that doesn’t mean I’m not okay with you taking the lead. I enjoyed it even though it was short.”</p><p>
I wasn’t apologizing for touching her, but I should because she didn’t give me consent. I don’t like touching people before they initiate. It makes me feel gross whenever I do. I’m apologizing because we’ve been dating for two months, almost three, and I still haven’t revealed to her that I’m wrong, sick. Almost three months ago it was only in my dreams, but now they’re appearing in real life.</p><p>
Her touch is tender, but her hands are as cold as ice because we’ve been outside since midnight. It’s five minutes past three. This was all unplanned. She threw rocks at my window until I got out of bed to tell her that she’s crazy for trying to get me even more in trouble. I’ve been grounded for something I can’t quite remember. It gives me a headache whenever I try to remember. She said she missed me and wanted to see me. I told her to put on some gloves then, but she said she missed my touch, and now I’m telling her again to keep her hands in her pockets. I don’t want to be the cause of her catching a cold. Whenever she’s sick it takes her a week to get over it.</p><p>
“That’s why I’m putting my hands on your face, silly. It’s as hot as the sun from all that blushing.”</p><p>
I stuttered and looked away, watching my breath in the corner of my eye. She got a kick out of that, which got me to pout.</p><p>
“Hey now,” she turned my face and moved it closer to hers, “if you keep making that face I’m going to have to-”</p><p>
“Wait,” I yelped.</p><p>
She leans in. I can smell her lip balm. It’s cherry-flavored. It’s always cherry-flavored. I squeeze my eyes shut and pucker my lips a little too tightly, causing my nose to look like an accordion with all of the new creases. We’re in the middle of the park across the school, before the moonlit pond, which is filled with sleeping ducks, geese, and turtles. Of course, it being this late into the night the park has been closed for hours now. We snuck in. Ashley climbed the fence with me following a second after. Holding this face that clearly said I am still a virgin, one of few virgins left in our class, for what was probably a minute, I hesitantly reopened my eyes. Ashley snorted.</p><p>
I tell the mocking girl in front of me, “Meanie. You’re always teasing me.” Then, out comes another pout.</p><p>
This time she goes through with it. Well, sort of. She gives me a little smooch on my forehead. I should be going blank and the pit of my stomach should be heating up like it always does whenever she kisses me, but this time I feel nauseous.</p><p>
I must’ve gone green because she asks, “Are you alright?”</p><p>
Before I could respond footsteps could be heard and a flashlight could be seen coming our way. Both are a good distance away from us. There’s no way the source of both could see us, but Ashley immediately grabs my hand and rushes us into the restroom some steps behind us. Luckily it was open and thank God it was a good hiding spot. We covered each other's mouths and noses with both hands as if the guard could somehow hear our breathing from so far away. He’s probably old. Maybe in his early thirties, which meant hard of hearing. When we could no longer hear his footsteps, we both let out a sigh of relief. I yawn, which meant I’m ready to head back outside and climb the gate again, be as far away from the possibility of going to jail for breaking in and especially be inside the comfort and warmth of my bed. She grabs my wrist and I meet with her wiggling eyebrows before I can step outside the stall.</p><p>
“I’d rather not have my first time next to that.” I nudged towards the clogged toilet that’s been begging to be cleaned since this afternoon.</p><p>
“But the rush. It’s so...scandalous. We could get caught at any time.”</p><p>
“This place? Here? It's rancid," I stick my tongue out before my deadpan, "Public restrooms, especially park public restrooms are never clean. Let’s not do it here. I don’t think getting multiple STDs is worth the 'rush'.”</p><p>
“Not here you say.” There she goes making that smug face she always does when she thinks she’s outsmarted me.</p><p>
“I-," I raise a finger then retract it, "Why are you so horny right now?”</p><p>
Being in theatre, she uses it to her advantage as she dramatically announces with pride, “The night is young and beautiful and I am too. I’m nearing adulthood, but I yet to know what it’s like to have my flower taken from me.“</p><p>
“You’re not the virgin here. I am. You got your ‘flower’ taken away two years ago, sophomore year, right after your last show.”</p><p>
“That doesn't count.”</p><p>
“That terrible, huh?” She does another of her infamous faces. Although, this is the cutest I’ve ever seen her puppy face. Once she starts twiddling her thumbs I can’t help but continue with, “Fine. My place if that’ll finally get us out of here.” A shiver, a bad feeling, climbs up my spine.</p><p>
That was ten minutes ago, but my words have not left my mind. It was hard enough as it was to sneak her inside before dad got up for work. I don't remember what he does, something that has to do with computers, but all I know is that he gets up before the birds start chirping. That was a seven on the hardness scale. This is a ten. Maybe an eleven because I can’t bring myself to lift my shirt, only shake above its hem. Her making that face as she undresses makes it even harder. She’s just in a bra and underwear when she leans in and presses our foreheads together. I gulp when she touches my face. Speaking of hardness, I look down and accidentally eye her cleavage. I bite the inside of my mouth before I do something I'll regret when I'm wide awake. “If you don’t want to do it now that’s fine. I'm sorry for trying to force you to do something you're clearly not ready for. It’s just that sometimes,” she looks away, “Sometimes I worry that you don’t like me the way I do for you.”</p><p>
“Now who’s the silly one here?” We look into each other’s eyes. I was finally confident just a second ago and now with her eyes looking into mine, I’ve once again become a gay mess. “I mean. Um. Like how can I not like you? You’re kind. You’re stunning,” I tell myself to stop looking at her chest, “You get really cute when you're practicing lines. You’re just amazing, you know?</p><p>
It took me by surprise, so that’s why my eyes were wide open for a moment. I closed them when I was the one for once to deepen the kiss. She’s supposed to taste like cherry, but she didn’t. She tasted bitter almost like blood. Pushing her away, I don’t see the same girl. Her eyes are fully white. Her head is slumped forward. Blood is seen dripping down from her agape mouth. She’s groaning one moment and the next she’s asking what’s wrong.</p><p>
“Ashley?” It came out as a croak as if something was blocking my vocal cords. My throat tightens as if someone is choking it. Wiping my eyes, scrubbing that nightmare out of my sight, she’s back to normal. Between her worry is a voice I should be familiar with. My body is telling me I know who he is and it’s also telling me something is wrong when blood comes out of my ears again. “This isn’t right.”</p><p>
“I’m sorry? I’m sorry for kissing you.”</p><p>
“No, that’s not it.” My head begins to pound. I press my hand against it. Ashley moves towards me, but I slap her hand away.</p><p>
“What the hell? Okay, I get it that I shouldn’t have pushed myself onto you. I shouldn’t have tried to see that my three-month girlfriend actually likes me because she never does anything that tells me she does. Never kissing apparently. Not hugging. Not even hand-holding. I’ve been patient with you. I’ve done everything for you. My friends have been telling me to break up with you, but I don’t because you’re not like the other girls at school. That’s what I told them, but now I don’t even know anymore.”</p><p>
“I’m not well. I think I’m insane.”</p><p>
“What are you talking about?”</p><p>
“I’ve been seeing things for months now. Horrific things.”</p><p>
She scoffs before downplaying my words with, “I’ve kept you awake all night. I think you just need some rest.”</p><p>
Turning away from her, I look at the clock above my dresser. I can’t read what it says. It’s not because it’s dark, it's because its hands are twisting together and its numbers are blurring together just like the numbers on the board three months ago. Moving my head away, the posters on my walls and the walls themselves begin to melt. I could now hear my heartbeats. It’s causing my head to hurt, even more, causing me to scream and cry out. I grip the blankets underneath me and shake.</p><p>
“It’s not real,” the same disembodied male voice from earlier told me.</p><p>
Ashley tries to ask me what’s wrong as she lays one hand on one of my own and the other on my face. It’s not as soft as before. It’s rough and hot. Not the good kind of hot. The skin beneath her hand feels as if it’s boiling. My pain doubles. By now it feels as if my head could split open at any second.</p><p>
I hadn’t realized I was closing my eyes until I reopened them to see a different Ashley. She was older and had red hair. I shake my head, push her away, and get up. “You’re not her. You’re not my Ashley.”</p><p>
“All I’m hearing is that you definitely need some sleep. When was the last time you slept?”</p><p>
“I don’t know. No, I don’t remember a lot of things. I can’t remember anything before three months ago. I have to get out of here. Something isn’t right. This isn’t right.” As I stumble towards the door, she grabs my wrist. “Let go of me. I shouldn’t be here. You’re not Ashley. You’re not my Ashley.”</p><p>
“What are you even saying? Isn’t this what you wanted? Aren't I who you want?” Again, she kisses me and yet again I cut the kiss short. I meet with her watery eyes.</p><p>
“Yes, this is what I want, but it's not real.” I raise my other hand to wipe away the running blood that's spilling out of my nose. I see my hand is bigger than it was previously. It has callouses. “Children live in lies to escape from reality. I’m sorry, but I’m not a child. I’m an adult, an adult who needs to get back to reality. I need the real Ashley.”</p><p>
With that, I lank my hand free from her grip and swing open the door.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0040"><h2>40. Chapter 40</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A groan escapes from my lips. I’m not sure how long the drop was, but it was a hard fall. I bend forward and claw at the ground beneath me. As my nails dig into it, it makes a soft crunch. I’ve fallen onto some sand and when I seize some and move the chunk to my face I see it's gone black. Ashes have long mixed into the various mineral particles. I fling it away before I could watch it fall grain by grain and then scurry away.</p><p>
Once I got back onto solid ground, a long-forgotten road, I looked up at the sky beggingly to make sense of this new reality. Before it, and I have a strong feeling I know what it is, the sky was rich with blue. Now it's rich with black and gray clouds. I take a step back and in the corner of my eye, I can see my reflection. I look insane with my frizzy hair and scuff marks and I also look young. I am probably nineteen maybe twenty, or twenty-one if I squint hard enough. That’s why I slammed my reflection, but not hard enough to shatter the glass. I don’t have the heart to because it's all that’s left. What was once a city is now a graveyard for history, memories, and countless bodies. Here and there are foundations, all still crumbling, but not a sign of human life. There are no skulls, not even a fracture of a tooth, but I know they died here because no one could’ve survived the impact. They weren’t ready for the invasion. Maybe if I were to get out of the city and run towards the wilderness I could find survivors. I could find people who were like us, those that lived every day with grief, sorrow, and pity, but even if I did I knew it would be pointless. They’re not real. This is a reality about death because I have yet to accept it. I have yet to accept you. Lifting my head, I dodge his attack just in time.</p><p>
I scrape my elbow and knee, but these don’t stop me from getting up and facing the same white-cloaked figure in my dream. He shakes the glass out of his arm. I watch green gush out of the cuts before I grab the hood of someone’s car as he’s charging towards me. His horns piece through the metal and into my skin. The Tauvox took some of my skin, but I kept running away. I’m not running out of fear. I haven’t felt fear in quite a bit. I’m running because I don’t have a weapon or at least something that could defend me from the green beam of light tearing off layers of skin. I ignore the blood. I need to find something in this desolate place that could help me against a Tauvox and Watcher fusion, which sounds crazy because it is. The deeper I go into the city the more I realize how impossible that task is because I’m finding out at the center of the city is where most of the fighting took place.</p><p>
Back against this place’s last remaining corner, I find my breathing is heavy and my sweat is excessive. I’m hiding in what was once someone’s home as his feet stomp across the street lying on the other side of this wall. No longer hearing him, I peek my head up and when I see he’s gone, I sigh. I’m relieved for just a short moment until I remember he’s a Tauvox. They have both an excellent sense of hearing and smell. I jump out of the way, missing being crushed by his jump. Ashes and dust fly up, I’m blinded, but not stupid. I get myself out of there and continue running until something shiny attracts my attention. It’s a rusty steel pipe that’s bent in the middle. The three-foot tube isn’t enough against that ten-foot monster. He could snap it into two easily when he gets close enough, but it’s better than nothing. So, I stood my ground and waited.</p><p>
With this little pipe I’m tapping against my palm, I became a sheriff, and the figure huffing and digging his hoof into the ground is the outlaw. Right, when the rain started I was about to say, “Even this city ain’t big enough for the two of us”. He shoots a beam towards me, shutting me up before I could say a peep of my sort of heroic line. I dodge, but he teleports in front of me. The pipe became my shield, but I still felt the impact. I gagged and was pushed back into some wall. First comes the cracking then comes the tumbling. My back comes hitting the ground, cement to be exact, and his glowing fist comes barreling towards me. The pipe comes barreling towards it. They collide and the impact causes the metal to vibrate and let out a ring. Not too long ago I would be celebrating this mediocre accomplishment, but now I know better because I instead continue to use it as my staff as he barrages me with counters. The downgraded staff smashes into his fists, elbows, knees, and hooves. It’s not enough to break his bones. Not surprising considering all the numerous examples I’ve seen about Tauvox durability, but at least I get him frustrated. He growls and I can see his canines as he bellows out his anger. I laugh at that.</p><p>
It’s always puddles. I slip, but I don’t hit the ground. He grabs the pipe thereby catching me. I thought this was a change of heart. This is why I’m about to say my thanks. Along with breaking the pipe is him breaking my heart. He squeezes it and my grip slips off of it. My butt hit the floor as he threw it aside. “Don’t tell me that was your best option, human. I expected better from you,” all three of their voices spoke in unison as he raised his glowing hands at me.</p><p>
“Ashley, I’m sorry,” I cried out loud.</p><p>
Between that infamous, devilish smirk and laughter I see that black figure from before fading in and out, replacing him. Blood comes out of my orifices. Wow, that's an ugly-sounding word. Anyways, I told myself how stupid I am. If the reality prior and the current reality are fake then he is fake as well. Also, and most importantly, I dictated the earlier one and this one. Both are what I wanted, the latter I secretly desire, but they just mean I can dictate this event.</p><p>
My staff, the non-pipe one, goes right through his chest. He lowers his hands, their glow disappears, and he looks down at it. Instead of him being shocked. Instead of a moan of pain, comes laughter. So, I imagine another staff and pierce it right through him. Still, he continues to laugh, and, still, I puncture another staff into him. Several filled his chest and one went right through his forehead. He’s become a green mess, yet he still manages to walk towards me.</p><p>
I get the sword out and proceed to cut him. I slice into one of his middle fingers, a wrist, his nose, and face. Nothing. No matter what I do he’ll remain standing. He'll remain alive. So, I make a break for it out of there. The further I ran the louder his laughter became. It doesn’t take long for me to cover my ears. It hurts. It's suffocating. When I finally come across a door, which is barely hanging onto its hinges, I swing it open. Again, it led me to a new beginning. Although, it’s not another one of my beginnings. I’m in the middle of his beginning.</p><p>
A young Tauvox is quivering in some corner of a spaceship I’ve grown accustomed to. Above him, another Tauvox pauses from kicking the smaller minotaur-like alien and turns around to look at me. Hearing him say the following I know who he is, “And who the fuck are you, human?”</p><p>
Behind The Commander, I can see the shaking Tauvox is bruised. Seeing that triangular face, I know who he is as well. He’s Syco and that’s when it hits me. Syco wasn’t talking about me. He was talking about himself.</p><p>
I should’ve let Syco remain tormented by his predecessor, but I don’t. “The one that’s been waiting to cut you open.”</p><p>
Gripping my two-handler, I don’t hesitate to swing. Before my blade can tear into his flesh, return the pain and plenty of suffering he’s brought upon people like me, the door I just came out of swings open. In the doorway is the gory fusion pulling out the many staffs I forced into him. “Is there any other thing in this universe that also wants to rudely interrupt,” The Commander asked.</p><p>
Pushing me aside, the fusion rips The Commander apart and then proceeds to eat him. Both Syco and I are wide-eyed with our jaws dropped. We’re frozen before the bloodbath between us. The monster left nothing but the shallow lagoon of The Commander's blood. Back hunched and continuing his laughing, I pointed my sword at him to comment, “Back to square one.”</p><p>
He turns to give me that infamous smirk. “You ignorant, feeble creature. Don’t you get it? I can not be taken down and now after that delectable, but a bit too salty for my liking, lunch I am more powerful than ever. I am invincible.”</p><p>
“Well, then, if I can imagine my sword then I can unimagine you.”</p><p>
“You can try.” The cannibal’s voice has become hoarse and deeper. It’s hard to differentiate who’s voice is which.</p><p>
I do try. I try three times before he body slams me into a wall. We got through about maybe ten layers of ten-inch thick metal. I’m not sure. I began to feel unconsciousness tug at my psyche by the third layer. So, I could barely stand up. I am swerving from right to left as the thing in front of me cracked his knuckles. Even with my weary eyesight, I can at least see the unfortunate upgrade eating The Commander gave him. He’s bulkier, a lot muscular, but maybe too beefy. His muscles looked like they were swallowing him alive, especially how his trapezius is just a smidge from touching his chin. Veins are popping out too. If he were to flex they'd burst out. I tried not to look at them because they’re twitching. Also, he’s a lot hairier and his horns are longer and sharper.</p><p>
“Do you still think you have a chance against me, human?”</p><p>
“No, but that doesn’t mean I won’t try.” I swing, but he grabs the blade with his bare hands and flings me along with it back. I hit something. That something went through my knee. It’s painful and it’s more fucking painful when I slide it out and stand back up.</p><p>
Coming towards me, I manifest something I haven’t used in some time. Now, with the staff in my left and blaster in my right, I’m able to defend myself. He punches me and I shoot him and whip him with my staff. Both barely make a scratch, but at least the former blind him for moments at a time. His claws, on the other hand, make a scratch into me. They do more damage than my blaster ever could. They make several until I’m cornered. Desperate, bleeding, and really damn tired, I try to dictate the coming outcome of this fight. I try to bend the walls around him. They do and they puncture right through the monster, sealing him in place. I smile, but his cage fades out before my eyes. The sight of him fades out before my eyes as well when he punches me.</p><p>
Stumbling back up, I watch his legs shuffle towards me then kick me. My mouth is filled with blood and I think one of my teeth is swimming in it when he grabs me by my neck and lifts me above his eye line. Choking me, I still proceed to try to win. I first force the staff into his chest, right through his heart, but all it does is have him continue that excessive laughter. Next comes my blaster. Nothing yet again. Of course, it hasn’t been all that useful in some time, anyways. Lastly, comes me trying to think how this could've ever led to this. This thing, this devil, is a figment built upon our internal issues. That’s it. I look past him to eye the still shaking, young Syco.</p><p>
“Syco, he’s not real.”</p><p>
The devil punches me in the stomach then questions, “Are you sure about that?”</p><p>
“Syco, you are no longer a child. Concentrate. Remove your fears. If you don’t I and then you will die here. The trial will turn out to be a failure. Just like,” he then proceeds to begin to crush my throat, “you if you keep influencing the trial with your fears.”</p><p>
Syco’s ears twitch and he wipes away his sniffles.</p><p>
Slamming me against the floor, I find the both of us in the room where I was taken away. He stands back. I grip my throat, which is burnt from his green glow, and cough. A wheeze comes next followed by my poor attempt at getting back up. Changing my blaster into my two-handler, he removes my other weapon in his chest and snaps it in half. It turns to ashes. Then, our second round commences.</p><p>
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but was this not the room that made you fear me?”</p><p>
Ignoring him, I grunt and shout, “Syco, you bastard, get your ass over here and stop encouraging him! You said it yourself, ‘it’s not real!’”</p><p>
Before he’s able to knock me out with both of his fists I create a shield. It does its job above, but I wish it could help me below because the more he tries to weigh me down the more the ground beneath me falters. It’s concaving around my feet. My arms are shaking and I thought I heard one of my sockets popping. Not sure which. Too focused on not getting crushed to death.</p><p>
“Commander.” I feel a ton of weight being lifted off of me. Removing my shield, I see that devil turn to the man that’s reclaimed his title as my savior. “It is time I put you in your place.”</p><p>
With my newly formed dagger, I cut into his incredibly thick back. He cries out, but in the middle of it, Syco’s fist goes right for his jaw. That thing, that amalgamation of signs Syco and I need to see a therapist, go flying, but it sinks its claws into the cold, metal floor before the distance between him and Syco can become any greater. His running causes the ground to shake. It’s double the strength of Cala’s running. The two collide. Their fists connect and the smaller Tauvox headbutts him.  Because of the action, I can see our opponent begin to fade. Between him shifting out of this reality I see that black figure again. Shaking my head, it turns back into being that hulking Tauvox.</p><p>
“Defeat me now, but that doesn’t mean you have won. I’ll always be in the back of your mind, Syco. You’ll always fear me. You’ll never move on from me.”</p><p>
“You’re wrong, Commander. I have moved on because I am no longer a child.”</p><p>
Finally, that thing is gone. Syco smiles at me and I smile back even though I spitefully comment, “Always the last minute with you.”</p><p>
Ignoring my attitude he begins a new conversation with, “Thank you, but it’s not over yet.”</p><p>
“What do you-”</p><p>
I wake up covered in something sticky. Sniffing it, I find out its sap. I then look around to see that the others are in it as well, but Pointy Face’s attention is on Syco. “You’ve completed the trial a lot sooner than I expected,” Pointy Face admitted to Syco.</p><p>
“And you have done what I expected,” Syco responded.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0041"><h2>41. Chapter 41</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Syco and the unnamed Space Explorer question their choices.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Chapters 41-45 are part 9.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>At the center, behind the looming figure, a single ray of moonlight shines on the spilled dark, nearly blood-red paint that came out of its sideways bowl. It looks as if the paint is glowing, illuminating this poorly lit and now stuffy room with a red tint, giving the room a sinister vibe.<br/>
The figure before Syco has their right eye twitch. Pointy face gulps and bites their lip. One wide-eyed moment later and our captor bursts out laughing. The figures, the accomplices, circling us follow suit. To them, Syco is a comedian. To me, he’s a brick wall. Not a single funny bone in his body, yet they laugh as if he told the funniest joke ever. Saamuki blushes at this.</p><p>
From nervousness to amusement to returning to square one, attentive with a tad bit of annoyance, Pointy Face’s transitions are awkward. Maybe it’s because they’re no longer self-assured. No longer does pride escape their lips. Discomfort, instead, drifts from their hand gestures as they speak. “I’ll also admit how downright brilliant you’ve been throughout this war. Though, you can’t run forever. At some point, you need to stop. We must catch our breaths before we dare to think of that next step. You already know this before taking that first step. However, we don't know everything. We can't plan for things we don't know. It's impossible. We trip on that crack we didn’t see, and we scrape our knee. It hurts. Badly.”</p><p>
“We’ve known each other for years, Zeq, but merely knowing is different from friendship.” Pointy Face, or as Syco says is Zeq, raises an eyebrow. “Although, I wish I was wrong. I see I’m faced with more enemies rather than given allies.” That’s what’s been in those blue eyes of his. He’s regretful.</p><p>
“And that surprises you? I can no longer trade. Supplies are low. My village is dying. Again, my people suffer,” Zeq lowers their voice with the drop of Syco’s ears, “This isn’t personal, Syco. It’s diplomatic. It’s about survival. The sooner this war ends, the sooner I can save my people.”</p><p>
“How long until they get here?”</p><p>
“Less than an hour.”</p><p>
“Then, I have plenty of time to do this.” Out first comes a grunt, then out second comes Syco. The freed Tauvox has Zeq stumble backward and with their words. Those around us motion their hands in a way I’m familiar with. Transforming their fingers into blades, surprisingly sharp for leaves, they take a step forward. They’re halted from taking another when Syco encases Zeq’s neck with his thick fingers. Zeq’s hat falls. It rolls and goes in a little circular motion before stopping and pointing in my direction.</p><p>
It’s here I notice how tall Zeq is, almost as tall as Syco, but somehow looks several feet smaller than the actual height difference between the two. Zeq is lanky and wilting, so Syco’s hand easily wraps around it and can easily snap it. He’s imposing to them, but not to me.</p><p>
“You will let us all go, and in return, I’ll let your mayor go.”</p><p>
“What are you doing? Let me go. Put me down. Don’t you see what I’m doing for you,” Zeq spoke up.</p><p>
“All you’re doing is delaying my plans.”</p><p>
“No, Syco. I’m saving you from what’s to come as well. You’ve gone farther than your predecessor, yes, but you will fail just like him. Your, my people’s, and trillions of other’s suffering can end here.”</p><p>
That moment where our eyes met I thought he was going to do it. I thought he was going to end it all. To let Zeq go than to just squeeze Zeq’s throat until it ripped in half, cemented who Syco truly is. Time has truly lost its touch on him. It no longer means anything to him. He’ll take down those who are in his way. It also cemented their decision in attacking. A blade went through Syco’s chest. He elbowed them, causing the blade to slide out and the others now surrounding him to look at one another. Then, proceed. They slice into Syco’s skin, some of his furs break off from the cuts and scatter across their chests, and in turn, Syco stabs them with his horns. His horns go right through each of them, but all of them easily heal. I see veins stitch themselves back together and soon flesh as well. The same can’t be said about the lifeless, decapitated mayor.</p><p>
I try breaking free from my troubles, but all it does is tighten the sap around me. I see why the others haven’t succeeded as Syco has. I’m starting to sweat. Saamuki would’ve landed herself to be boiled alive. As for Shiitakee, well, he’s Shiitakee.</p><p>
The drooping mushroom says, “What I’d do to be lighting up a cigarette right now.”</p><p>
Three simple strokes of his horn between their swings and the three of us are freed. Syco catches one of their blades between his hands and throws them into the others before turning to us and shouting, “What are you waiting for? Get to the ship!”</p><p>
Walking across the bridge made me anxious. Running and trying to balance while the bridge sways left to right because of the fight happening behind me still gives me anxiety, but now it's nauseating. At least now it's too dark to spot the ground between the wood making up this rickety path, but it’s too dark to make out what’s what. The bushy branches above let some, not enough, moonlight in. My crown’s fire isn’t enough either. I’d thank Saamuki for glowing on this hectic night if I wasn’t busy running and trying not to trip.</p><p>
Another obstacle stood in our way as Zeq’s aides don't know when to give up. They’re relentless. They don’t know when to fall. So, now we’re sandwiched between them and the scowled figure from earlier. I get out my blade, and Saamuki prepares to lunge, but it’s Shiittakee that challenges the figure who’s far larger than the three of us. Syco, if he wanted to, could crush Shiitakee just like he did with Zeq. This figure could crush Shiitakee and cause him to explode. I don’t want to see any more guts be sprayed out, so I take a step closer. I could hear Syco still deflecting, and his horns connecting with their blades as Shiitakee proves he’s more than just some whiny quitter. A yellowish gas sprays out of his cap, fuming all around us. The figure, Saamuki, and I cough. Its stench was sucked up by my nostrils and carried to my taste buds. I gag. It tasted like rotten eggs mixed with spoiled milk with a dash of a public toilet. When it finally escapes my senses, another bridge appears between us. The tree beneath us had magically, probably because of that rancid gas, had stretched one of its branches to the ground, puncturing through the ocean of darkness resting beneath our feet. What could’ve been our aggressor just watches as we escape to the makeshift bridge. We enter the darkness, and not a minute after, I hear Syco joining us. This bridge groans with his added weight as he continues to battle on with those several vengeful figures.</p><p>
Saamuki sends a blast their way. I hear someone slip. They plummet, but I don’t hear them land. So, definitely not Syco. Another blast, but it takes a moment longer before another one of them falls into the blackness below. There’s no third attempt. She turns back around, and I catch an ominous glimpse of the ones left watching us and the now caught up Syco walk the rest of the way. They watch us emotionlessly with their blades remaining.</p><p>
A wind glazed us once we set foot onto the ground. It's gentle, a feeling I haven’t felt in some time.</p><p>
Something new happens. Saamuki moves her hands in a circular shape. Little bolts of lightning shot out between her fingers. She breathed out and threw her hands apart. A small, glowing blue orb now floats above us, lighting everything around us within what I guess is a twenty-foot radius. Something scampers away, and Syco moves away from my awe, taking the lead.</p><p>
I walk by his side the rest of the way to the spaceship. I should feel equal to him now, but there’s still plenty of distance between us before that ever could happen. I feel like he noticed it too, or maybe I’m just thinking about it too much. It’s just strange that he asked me to join him in his meeting with General Knox, interrupting Saamuki and his second-in-command. Saamuki and I look at each other, as his second-in-command continues what he was saying before being cut off by his commander. The two of us know I can’t decline. General Knox has our friends wrapped around his thumb. The last I heard from Syco is that they were in Quadrant Forty. It’s been too long since then. Who knows which quadrant they’re in? After all, finding and having them regain control are the main reasons we’ve let ourselves be commanded by the sweaty Tauvox arguing with the non-sweaty Tauvox. Any information helps. Whatever is going to be said during the meeting definitely is.</p><p>
I nod. He replies with, “Great. Follow me. The meeting is going to start soon.”</p><p>
Again, I walk by his side. I steal a glance from Saamuki until she turns to look at the pondering Shiitakee. The second-in-command stalks off, cutting across the hallway and ending my glance at Saamuki.</p><p>
This room is new. Row by row across the walls, lights turn on. The room is large but not grand. Compared to the other rooms in the ship, even to the rented room shared between Saamuki and me, it’s small. On either side of the room sat two paintings. One of a man I know, Syco’s predecessor, and the other of a Tauvox with white fur. A scar stretches from their right eyebrow to the left side of their jawline. They’re just a picture, but I can sense they’re as much of a brute as The Commander, the terrifying presence instead of that corpse down below.</p><p>
“Only one other, besides us, has entered this room. You know of him quite well.” I follow the Tauvox to the center of the room. Resting there is a platform with etchings of alien writing. It’s similar to Sakhra’s quilt. Actually, I think it’s the same. It’s just upside down.</p><p>
I don’t have to look where he’s looking at it. Looking at that painting as long as I did was enough. So, I instead look at him. His expression is the same one he showed back in Zeq’s village.</p><p>
“Why did you ask me to join you?”</p><p>
“Because I trust you.” Interrupting him is the platform before us blinking. “Stay out of his sight. Commander Knox does not know you’re here.”</p><p>
I move away as far as I can as the symbols on the platform float up and spin around Syco. Appearing in front of him is a hologram of that monkey-like commander. Would he and his people be considered cousins to humans? Human’s next evolution? Do they still count as humans? Besides the fur and metal parts, they still look human. I wonder what the Virmuses went through to look like that in the near millennia they split up from humanity.</p><p>
“Ah, Commander Knox you were able to make it today.”</p><p>
“Quadrant Forty has been tedious, Commander Syco.”</p><p>
“Oh?”</p><p>
“This is not an admittance to the limitations of my intelligence.”</p><p>
“I would hope not.”</p><p>
“As of the last report, half an hour ago, we have taken control of half of the quadrant.”</p><p>
“And what of the three?”</p><p>
“Same as the last time. Nothing new. Although, they did help me in a tight squeeze this morning.” I imagine Syco to have raised an eyebrow because the other commander continued with, “Again, not me admitting my limitations.”</p><p>
“Great. Casualties?”</p><p>
A laugh. “None from my side, but hundreds from the enemy.”</p><p>
A flinch. The very hand Syco used to kill Zeq flinched. It’s a subtle movement. Commander Knox doesn’t notice, but I do. From that seemingly small action, I now know why he asked me to be here.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0042"><h2>42. Chapter 42</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lots of diagrams. Plenty of banter but no signs of Ashley, Mikrovos, or Skeema. In the end, though, I can’t say it was a complete waste of time. I know where they are, and I also know where Syco is in terms of his state of mind.</p><p>
“I’ll look more into it.” His projected image vanishes, and the symbols that were once circling Syco float back down to the platform. Once again, it's just the two of us. His back is facing me. A purple glow is facing him. The compass, what Commander Knox was referring to before leaving the meeting, is held in Syco’s hand. It's held in his other hand, the one not ranked with death. Its symbols have yet to be translated. The two are stuck, Syco especially as he remains standing on that platform, refusing to look at me.</p><p>
“I loved it. I loved the feeling. I loved the power I had. I took so many lives. I took too many lives. The Commander, he,” he sighs, and his grip loosens, “No. No, I can’t blame him. It was my fault. It was all my fault. I let my dark desires take over. That’s why I stopped. That’s why I took that oath, but I broke it.”</p><p>
He shakes his head. Briefly, I see a smirk. It’s not the villainous smirk I’ve grown ill towards. It’s the type of smirk that says: “I fucked up then, and I fucked up once again.”</p><p>
Continuing his monologue, “I’m trying to do what’s right. I’m trying to make up for what I’ve done. I'm trying to walk forward, but I keep walking backward. I’m trying to save lives, not end them. It’s times like these I question if this war is worth it. Have I become what I’ve grown to hate? I’m insane, but you already know that.</p><p>
“I can't trust my inner circle. I can’t even trust myself. I never could. Human, you’re the only one I trust. So, please tell me, have I become the villain in this story?” Finally, he turns to face me. For once, our height difference doesn't bother me.</p><p>
“We’re the villains in our stories, but there’s no such thing as justice. There’s just us and our decisions. Make one that helps us, and it hurts others. Make one that helps them, and it hurts us.”</p><p>
“The universe isn’t infinite. It’s finite. It crushes, breaks. It kills life. The truth is ironic, but we’d rather believe lies. I don’t want to be like everyone else anymore. I don’t want to be me anymore. I hear and see things that aren’t really there. I don’t sleep. I can’t because they’re always nightmares. I’m restless. That’s why when we finally write ourselves in the last chapter in this story I want my story to end with you.</p><p>
“I disagree with your earlier statement, though I can see where you’re coming from. There is justice in this abyss we call the universe. It’s when I find myself meeting with and gasping underneath your blade.”</p><p>
Instead of a set of glowing purple eyes glaring at me from afar, hunting me for my reaction, is two sets of eyes looking at each other. Both are stiff, serious. One of them switches from looking at someone I have to call my friend, as the only way of surviving is by having friends, to her screen. “It just looks like chicken scratch to me.”</p><p>
The symbols on her screen are the same ones that were written on me. I touch my chest. They’re gone now, but I imagine the red paint had rubbed onto my hand. It feels like blood. It looks like blood. I get a chill thinking about seeing the reflection of that thing from the trial onto the imaginary stroke on my hand.</p><p>
It’s when I step inside the room the two finally take note of me. They look up, but Shiitakee returns to inspecting Saamuki’s screen. “Any news,” she asked.</p><p>
“Yeah. How far away are we from Quadrant Forty?”</p><p>
“It's about a two-hour trip, but that's a lot closer than I expected.”</p><p>
“They’ll be there a while.”</p><p>
“But I still can’t figure out how to access the code.”</p><p>
I join Shiitakee. “What’s this about?”</p><p>
“The symbols that were on you are the same ones that Sakhra painted on himself. I see the same ones whenever I glow. It’s the same one I heard The Speaker speak.”</p><p>
“Are they the same as the ones on Syco’s compass? I haven’t gotten a good look at it yet.”</p><p>
“Me too, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it is.”</p><p>
Shiitakee cuts in, cutting out of his daze on Saamuki’e screen, “Fine, let’s say I believe you. Okay, this isn’t just some chicken scratch. Out of the millions of languages in the known universe, whoever first started this whole strange trend decided to use a language I haven’t heard about until just a few minutes ago. Why?”</p><p>
“I’m still trying to figure that out, but maybe if I were to look around Quadrant Thirty-Nine’s library I could find something.”</p><p>
“And how would you do that? We’re two hours away at the very least, remember? Besides, I hear it’s the most guarded place right now.”</p><p>
“Also, I don’t think Syco is going to let us just get up and leave anytime soon. It’s not the best time right now,” I added.</p><p>
“That's fine I wasn't planning on leaving this room. I know of a way to set foot in that library without actually setting foot." Both Shiitakee and I look at each other. Following our shrugs is Saamuki continuing with, "It's a lot of explaining. But basically..."</p><p>
The way was by sending holograms of us first flying across the universe at unimaginable speeds, then swimming in miles of electric currents to eventually abruptly being smacked onto some dusty, browning tiles I pictured being cold. For the most guarded place in the universe, it sure looks abandoned. One of the lights above is flickering. It goes on and off for a minute before it completely dies. At least the other lights above, thousands of dim lights, can keep on. They shine across the jaw-dropping rows upon rows of books. Piles of them, rather than being properly organized by nuzzling against each other in bookshelves, are stacked high. Three nearly reach the roof, which I need to add this building is three stories high. All of the piles are taller than our three heights combined. Why must aliens not use bookshelves?</p><p>
At the very center of the ceiling is a perfectly square window lying just behind a cage. On the other side of the window, squeezed between the nest of what I hope aren't bones, is a purpling sky. It’s twilight here.</p><p>
Gleefully Saamuki whispers, “It worked.”</p><p>
Footsteps are heard coming our way. I gulp.</p><p>
Saamuki reminds us, “No one can see us.”</p><p>
The guard’s footsteps die down as they turn and move away from us.</p><p>
“Although, we have to be careful with our voices." She raises her head and looks around the library. "Sounds bounce around here quite easily.”</p><p>
Shiitakee looks around before replying, “Curse me for not asking more but don’t tell me we’re actually going to look through this mess to look for a book or two we don’t even know the name of. Must I add, for a mere theory? Who knows maybe it’s just a coincidence, or maybe you’re overthinking. Maybe I was actually right for once.”</p><p>
“I didn’t force you to come, Shiitakee. I asked you to come.”</p><p>
“Yes, you did.”</p><p>
“You can still go back.”</p><p>
“That’s the thing I could. I will after a few minutes. Maybe when I can’t take this bore anymore, but it was really boring waiting for you two to come back last time.”</p><p>
“Then, let’s get right into it.”</p><p>
The three of us went our separate ways after promising to meet back there. Saamuki went straight, going deeper into the jungle of books. One minute she's waving bye to us. The next, she's been swallowed by the books. My other companion just turned away and flipped through the nearest book. I went right. The books here are smaller than the books Saamuki traveled into, but they’re much more portly. They’re almost five inches thick. I scan the titles. Many I find interest in, thinking they held the answers Saamuki is looking for. I find myself skimming through them, and in those brief moments, I try to figure out how to cope with how much time I wasted. I groan. Little blurry pictures. So few creative titles. Too many tiny printed words, most of which are long. I despise reading. It always makes me so sleepy, but I force myself to the next book and then to the next. I must’ve skimmed through a hundred, barely a tenth of the books around me, before my eyes become too watery to read. I reach around for another book, but I fall on my butt. Accepting my new predicament, mainly because I'm too tired to get up, I note the book is coated in just as much dust as the floor, if not more. I blow on it but soon regret it. I cough and try to hold in the noise. I try fanning away the fine particles. When they eventually blow away, I frown because I can’t read the title of this book. Maybe if I flip through the book I’ll find at least a word I can read. Nope. It’s all simply just lines, circles, and dashes to me. They have no meaning to me, but the stars above do. It’s well past midnight. We’ve been here for hours, but find ourselves no better than where we were before coming here. I sigh and lay back to look up at the ceiling.</p><p>
I hope Saamuki is close to finding something. I also hope I get to see the others soon. I reach my hand up, thinking I’m somehow able to reach out to them lightyears away from where I’m laying. Then, I hear static. With a guard swinging his flashlight across my clearing, I chalk the strange sound to his shuffles even though I knew that doesn't make sense. That’s why I’m not surprised when I get the real answer. I hear a voice I haven’t heard in some time. Hearing it has me get up, get watery-eyed, and look around for the unlikely. “Skeema,” I asked quietly.</p><p>
A moment. No reply. I was about to rethink my recent judgment until he finally replies, “It’s been some time, hasn’t it?”</p><p>
“W-Where are you?” I look around again, thinking Skeema would pop out of nowhere with tea for us to share. Of course, that doesn’t happen. I remain alone in this crevasse in the sea of books listening to the guard walking away.</p><p>
“Light years away from your location.”</p><p>
“How are you talking to me?” At first, I thought I'd truly gone insane like Syco. Then, I remembered what Syco did all those weeks ago before the tournament. Although, unlike then, I don’t get to see the face behind the voice. “Right. My chip.”</p><p>
“Yes.” A cough rushes out of Skeema. It sounded painful. I felt it. It’s as if my chest is collapsing in on itself.</p><p>
“Are you alright, Skeema?”</p><p>
“It’s nothing. Don't worry about it. I don’t have much time. Knox is planning something big. Don't come looking for us. For the time being, remain where you are.”</p><p>
“What? Why?”</p><p>
“I’m sorry. I don’t have the time to explain, but I’ll let you know when I can.” A blaster goes off on his side. It rings in my ears, and right after our call goes static. I try calling out his name. Nothing.</p><p>
Looking up at the window, I wonder what's coming. Then, instead of getting an answer, but it’s not like I would’ve gotten one, I see a black silhouette looming over me. I get out my sword, and they just tilt their head.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0043"><h2>43. Chapter 43</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Their arm springs towards me. My sword goes right through them. The book I had let go of several moments ago, the one I could not read, shakes. The unknown figure before me grunts as their hand begins to shake as well. A jerk later, and the book goes flying towards them. They catch it. Quickly, I realize they are a known figure. He is Sakhra’s brother. Ex-brother? I am thousands of light-years away from that desert planet, so why is he here? Does it have to do with Sakhra’s reasoning for not coming with us? I hope he’s okay and that his brothers and sisters do not cross paths with Syco anytime soon because when you are desperate you no longer care. I should do something about that. He trusts me. I should end it before the boulder hits the ground, but it's my stupid humanity that stops me from doing so. Emotions help you see, but it also keeps you from doing anything of substance. I am not strong enough, Ojos. I am sorry.</p>
<p>
Two sets of eyes, who now have eye bags underneath them, seemingly stab me. Then, look down at the now open book. It’s not even a minute before their eyes finish scanning through it. Closing it, Sakhra’s ex-brother opens up with, “Another unrelated one, but not completely useless.”</p>
<p>
He slides the book in his sleeve before scanning around the circular wall of books around us and turning back around to the opening behind him. I opened my mouth as he looked both ways, watching out for any guards that may be around, so I could press for answers. Just like then, his steps are precise, gentle. It’s an excuse. I do not want him to stop. I want to know where he is going. I want to know what interested him in coming here. I want to know if I am making the right choice.</p>
<p>
A broad-shouldered figure causes the stairs in front of me and the column my four-eyed leader is hiding behind to creak as he walks down it. He waves his flashlight across the hallway. It passes through me, and not too long after, he does as well. Turning the corner, the once cultist heads up the stairs. I do as well. When landing on the second floor, he goes right into scanning the books that have been carelessly scattered all over the walkway. Three of them are balancing on the handrail. Soon I am leaning over them as the cloaked figure proceeds onwards. Right when I am about to lose sight of him, I also scan. A million books. There have to be at least a million books on the first floor alone. Even if Shiitakee tried to validate Saamuki's theory, one that is “going to change everything”, we would not come close to finishing the first floor. A month and we would barely make it halfway. I wonder how Saamuki is doing. By now, Shiitakee is back on the ship drooling and snoring, waiting for us to come back after just flipping through three books, but he is not useless. Apparently, not. I do not know much about him. He’s known Syco for a long time, years, yet Syco trusts me more than him. Why? Unlike Commander Knox, Shiitakee has not proven himself to be untrustworthy. He has not snitched on us peeking in on The Commander being on life support. Maybe there is more to his whining. I hope this all is not another convoluted plan for Syco to see just how small his inner circle has become. Shiitakee is with our unconscious bodies, after all. I stretch and yawn as he becomes interested in a book with torn and stained pages.</p>
<p>
He is pressing his hands and sliding them across a dead-end by the time I stop trying to reason my realizations. There is a third floor. I saw it from down there. So, why is there a dead-end? His middle and index fingers glide across it, collecting dust and causing a spider to skitter away. He flicks away the grey spot on his fingers and leans closer to the trail he made. The figure, now triumphant, has to move behind a large stack of books when footsteps close in. I think I hear him cuss. Another broad figure, though this one is slender, comes this way with a flashlight. Pointed on the wall, he spots my companion’s handiwork. He steps towards it, squinting. "Hm." He waves his flashlight around. The universe works in mysterious ways, it seems. If I am being honest, I have to say I love it sometimes. Most of the time, I hate it. Now? Well, I am not sure. His watch blinks green. It vibrates with a soft buzz. He leaves and leaves my relieved, cloaked companion to wander back to the wall and fiddle around some more with it until a click is heard. A chunk of the door slides inwards to the left. Somehow the room beyond looked darker than outer space. As soon as he steps inside, the door begins to slide back into place. I follow, going through half of the closing door. Another click. The door shuts, locking us in darkness. Then, locking us with an illuminated staircase thanks to the flashlight he pulled out of his sleeve. I wonder what else is up his sleeve.</p>
<p>
Against the winding staircase are two brick walls. Among them are paintings. Dust makes it hard to see who or what is painted. It’s not like they’re important to the mission, but one of them catches my eye. Five scratches, a claw, tore through the face of a well-dressed man with a scowl and a balding head. I touch the torn cotton page, press against it, and I, thankfully, find out the deed was done much time ago, but this means its cause is lost to time. I do hope it stays that way. I do not want to confront its cause anytime soon. Although, the universe has an odd way of connecting me with people I would not ever think I would be in the presence of.</p>
<p>
I certainly would not have imagined being in the presence of that. This floor is just like the others. Books had been mindlessly placed wherever on nearly every crook and cranny. Although, besides being a lot smaller than its predecessors, this one has the added bonus of having a statue of a caped figure pointing towards the window. The statue has a faceless mask. Rounding it, as my companion mutters about his plea to find what he is looking for while shuffling through book after book, I see that same symbol that was all over that town square, a circle with a dot inside, directly plastered at the center of the statue’s cape. I step back and grip the handrail. Turns out I am not the only one discontent because he too is not any better at finding out what he is looking for. Pacing back and forth, he mumbles something. He nearly trips on a book while doing so, which he kicks away. Eventually, he squeezes the bridge of his nose with his index and thumb, using the hand of the arm I stabbed days ago. Then, proceeds to groan but is cut short by the opening of another entrance. All four of his eyes widened. He throws himself behind one of the many stacks of books.</p>
<p>
A secret door slides inwards from the statue's podium in the corner of my eye. A striking figure with a faceless mask and a cape appears in its doorway. My eyes dart back and forth from this newly arrived figure to the statue. Both are one and the same.</p>
<p>
The figure bends down and seizes the book my companion had just kicked off the ground. They turn to me. One minute into this figure’s arrival and I am already getting a bad feeling about them. They turn and stride towards me. Their cape trails behind them. I really thought they could see me. I should know by now it would be impossible because I trust Saamuki, but it is just the vibe I get from them that causes me to think so irrationally. Of course, they do not notice me even as they step next to me. Upon gripping the handrail with one hand and throwing the book to the first floor with the other, which fell with a deafening slam, I find out why the library is the way that it is. Swatting the side of the cape with the newly freed hand, they groan while lowering their head. Their voice is deep, but there is a bit of femininity to it. “Those insolent imbeciles.” Tightening their grip on the handrail, I hear friction. I think I hear a crack. Maybe the wood beneath their terrifyingly big hand split. I am not sure. I am too weary to check.</p>
<p>
Raising their head up, but with hunched shoulders now, they continue, “At least I have this place, the only place left in the universe where I can finally be alone and away from those bastards.”</p>
<p>
Magically, a parchment appears in their free now glowing golden hand. With a deep inhale, they then proceed to write down the reason for their annoyance. It goes as follows: “It would be ignorant of me—a failure of my due diligence—to dismiss my duty within the council. Therefore, I understand each of us is in charge of distinct positions. However, at times, our positions must blend into one another as those occurrences involve imprecise issues. (This should be common sense to the others by now. Apparently, not. I presume they do it on purpose.) I seek out fallacies, although it is nonsensical to say such as it is an obligation. I was born to feel this way. Refer to ‘On the Creation: Between Mortal and God’, edition five if confused, or dare I say, forgotten. My duty, in the summary of chapter eleven of the previously mentioned book, is to provide reasoning and logic to the Lords of the Universe.”</p>
<p>
I froze. I can not make a sound, and I for sure can not do anything with this information. Right here. Right in front of me stands the point of this all. Before I barked, and now I can not bite. The Lords of the Universe are the executives of the universe and commanders of Watchers. They are the reason why Syco dehumanized me. Most importantly they have my people. Their cape and the vibe they gave me make sense now. Supposedly, I am to confront them soon enough. I want to do something, anything but run away. I can not, though. I could touch them, and they can not touch me, I hope. My computerized sword would not do much good. One blast and I would just be teleported back to the ship, thousands of light-years away. It is useless, so I have to remind myself to remain silent. My companion tries to do just that as they raise their head from the small wall of books. Because the Lord is still facing away, they proceed to get up and move towards the secret door we came out of. He is quiet as per usual. The Lord continues to scribble down on their parchment, but they stop once he reaches where the door should be.</p>
<p>
“Ah, the famous knife-wielder I have heard so much about.” He freezes. The Lord, turning to him, has the parchment fade away with the fading of their glow. “And before you ask, yes, I did know you have been here since I stepped foot on this floor. I did not react until now because you were of no danger to me. You still are not. You as well, human.” I pull both my dagger and staff out. The Lord lifts their hand. Continuing, “There is no need to become barbaric. I plan to let the both of you go after a brief interrogation.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0044"><h2>44. Chapter 44</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Human,” he exclaimed. A book, which is angled against the wall he tried hiding behind, began to wobble. It shook as if an earthquake had suddenly slammed against the library. Then, it flew into his hand. Its spine is the first to make contact. Its cover and back come next with the gripping of his hand. Fearful one moment and as irritated as the Lord in the next, he pulls his hand back. He threw the book, but it was halted from its destination, my face, with the Lord’s dexterity. Their contact sounded like Cala rose from the grave and made his return by crashing through the library’s one window, breaking the metal bars encasing it, and into the library itself. Cracks all around, a massive crater, and the rise and eventual fall of the millions of books and us. Because of how close I am to the handrail, I would fall into the hole and instantly be deleted from there if the library did not just collapse in on itself before then.</p><p>
“My intentions are to understand and bring understanding. I usually see no point in violence. It almost always turns out to be a waste of my time. That being said, if I have to discipline, then I will do so. Do not forget you are before a Lord.”</p><p>
He bows and continues with, “I-I...forgot my place. Forgive me, Lord.”</p><p>
“Most importantly, you are before me. Compared to the other Lords, I am the least patient. Do not test that. So, speak unless spoken to and do no more. How many of you are out there fighting against the rebellion?”</p><p>
“Currently, a little more than four hundred, Lord.”</p><p>
“Interesting. I will be blunt with the following because I want this done as soon as possible. It is rare for me to find a day like this one. The Lords have long comprehended what is happening. They know of your efforts, and if they knew you were here, they would thank you. That is why I am going to hand you this book.” One golden mist engulfing their hand later, and a book, far thicker than the many others I have glimpsed, lays flat on the hand. The Lord hands it to, at first, the hesitant anti-rebellion member who nearly drops it because of its weight. “This should be all you need to know. Now off with you.”</p><p>
He reads the title and shakes with excitement. His hands turn page after page before the Lord repeats themselves. He scampers away but glares in my direction before leaving.</p><p>
“The Lords have grown lazy. True, they have slacked before, but now it has become completely unacceptable. After thousands of years, they still believe mortals are primitive. This is why they have not done anything to quell the anarchists but instead use the same things they claim are beneath them to do their work. Their hands would not get dirty, sure, but it would send the wrong message. It will give people a reason to question.”</p><p>
“Then.” I gulp. I gulp twice. I think of words. I make a sentence or two in my head. I think of things to say, but nothing comes out. Was the Lord's whole body glowing? They looked ironically heavenly. “Why did you let them go with that book?”</p><p>
“Why did I help further the agenda of something I so clearly detest? Well, one reason is that I want to give them what they want. I want them to feel a moment of success, but I also want them to realize the consequences of their actions. They will beg for my forgiveness. Hopefully, finally, respect me after. The next I will not say, but I can say the last is, funny enough, one of their reasons. This will be interesting.</p><p>
“Now, I no longer need your presence. Be off as well.”</p><p>
Up above, three moons lit up the night sky. I bathe in their light. They shine on the dusty books around me as well. They sparkle. They look fantastical, magical. I would look heavenly if this body was not made from binary code. If I was, I would not feel heavenly. Heaven. Hell. Two different places, both used to explain what happens after death. The good go to Heaven, and the bad go to Hell. They help explain the universe to many, but it just leaves more questions to be asked. Like why should we be judged for things He could have prevented? Why must we suffer for caring about the wrong things?</p><p>
Four hundred. There are four hundred just like Sakhra’s ex-brother. There is also the rebellion and what Sakhra has in store. The war continues from beyond that window. Casualties, thousands of them. Trillions are in the middle of it as they have yet to choose their side. I am not sure what to make of the Lord perched up and walking along the slender handrail that is barely the width of one of his feet. Essentially a war on all sides, one that I instigated. I started this, but I am not sure how to end it.</p><p>
The Lord, now the biggest person I know, danced along the handrail. They spun, raised one of their legs, and jumped. Lots of leg movements. They pranced. They were delicate, even more, delicate from the long-gone cloaked man. A beautiful show, but it is a warning. They are balanced, and I am not.</p><p>
I did not know I dozed off. I woke up to Saamuki softly calling out to me and blinking my eyes open to her waving her blurry hand across my face. I said something, but I think it came out as a mumble, stutter, and a ramble all at once because she takes a moment to respond with, “I finally found what I was looking for. I found this secret room first, and then bam, I found this. Would you want to take a look?”</p><p>
“Sure,” I slurred out.</p><p>
It is still night, but only one moon lit up the night sky. I must have been asleep for a while, but I am still sleepy. I nearly dropped the heavy book she handed to me. We both fumble with it until I get a grip on it. “Ha. Ha. Ha. Whoopsie. I think we should head back in case I get butterfingers again, and the book actually drops this time.”</p><p>
“Agreed.”</p><p>
That woke me up. Back on the ship with the book remaining in my hand, I tighten my grip on it. Should I tell the others that I met one of the Lords? Should I tell Syco? I thought about it until Saamuki brought my attention to the absent Shiitakee. He is nowhere in the room.</p><p>
Both of us think it is unusual, but it is Saamuki that voices our concern. “Weird,” she turns to me, “Do you know where he could have possibly gone?”</p><p>
I am about to reply, but I am cut off by the shout of two distinct voices that seem to be coming from the end of the hallway. We do not hesitate to follow the sounds.</p><p>
“You bastard,” Syco shouted. Who he is shouting at is unclear, as his and a handful of crewmates’ backs are facing towards us. The two of us, Saamuki and I, squeeze past them. Most do not mind. The second-in-command looks at us with a frown. We ignore and try to look over Syco’s massive figure.</p><p>
Shiitakee, who is the one being shouted at and has acquired a black eye in the time we separated, replies with, “Syco, I have known you since the beginning. We know each other better than anyone else, so you have to know what I am doing is for you. You are not well. You keep making rash decisions.”</p><p>
“You dare to use our friendship right here, right now, after what you have done? How long have you been plotting against me?“ His black-eyed friend looks away. Ex-friend now? Spy, obviously. “I said how long, Shiitakee. How long?”</p><p>
“Six months ago when your predecessor was killed. Supposedly, he was,” the black-eyed spy blurted out.</p><p>
“And what do you mean by that last statement?”</p><p>
“I know what you are doing to him. It is sick, Syco. Sick! You need help. You know I am right. You had a feeling I would do this because you let her join your little meeting. I have known you far longer than her, but you have never let me come with you. I should not be surprised, considering you never listen to me. You fear for my advisement.” Syco's ex-friend grew heartbroken. “Listen, I wished this did not have to come to this. At first, for some time, I did not want to do this.”</p><p>
Interjecting, I asked, “What are you two talking about? What happened?”</p><p>
Syco, still eyeing Shiitakee, ignores my question. Instead, it is his second-in-command that elaborates, “Commander Syco found out Shiitakee has been backstabbing him. Shiitakee has been sending information to our enemies about the commander's plans for years. Recently, which is how Commander Syco found out, he sent the schematics of our ship.”</p><p>
“Tell me why I should not send you out an airlock?”</p><p>
“Because I would survive.”</p><p>
“I do not care whether you do or not. I just want you gone, far away from me, and I want you to suffer. Grab him and send him out the closest airlock.”</p><p>
Those around us, Tauvoxes besides Syco and his second-in-command, head towards Shiitakee. Shiitakee, determined, with a fighting spirit, refuses to be captured so easily. He dodges their reaching arms, and with both of his hands, he punches. Two stumble back, but two come forward to confront him. They swing, which Shiitakee dodges by lowering, but the two kick in unison. Their knees smash his face. His back hits the wall, and he gets less than a second to relax before the two come at him with their horns. They pierce into him. I squirm at this, and I meet Saamuki’s eyes. He spits out blood before several holes appear on his cap. They open wide.</p><p>
“Fools, get out of the way,” Syco told his men, but it is much too late before they realize it. The gas, this time red, quickly spreads around them, causing the two Tauvoxes to immediately pluck their horns out as they stumble away and cough. One of them pukes. The two in the back try to crawl away, but it is soon too late for them too. They cough as the rest of us try to get away. We do, but Shiitakee flees.</p><p>
While Shiitakee can go one way, we are forced to take the other. It was a longer route, though, so we met him almost too late. He has his hands on an escape pod, but he does not know how to use it. If he did, he would have been gone by now.</p><p>
“Shiitakee, open this door right now! Stop being a coward and face me.” He can not hear Syco even as Syco pounds his fists on the escape room’s door, but I think he sensed a few eyes on him because he turns away from the pod and jumps. The spy frantically presses buttons. When that fails to work, tries to move the pod by pushing it towards an airlock. Saamuki and I are bystanders, not sure of what to do. The second-in-command does not join this role as he gets out a screen and proceeds to try to unlock the door. It is after the third attempt that Syco slams himself against the door, hoping to break it down. Right when he is about to hit the door for the fifth time, the other Tauvox unlocks the door. Syco tumbles to the floor, which the smaller of the two apologizes for, but Syco ignores and presses towards his ex-friend. He gets a punch on Shiitakee, and when he is going for a second, the vegetation binds his hands together. They rapidly grow, lengthening. It creates a shield, protecting him from the punch, but it does not protect him from Syco striking above him. A headbutt from Syco towards Shiitakee’s cap and the mushroom humanoid falls to the ground.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0045"><h2>45. Chapter 45</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Shiitakee’s elbows are bent. His knees are pinned against the cold, hard metal floor. His left knee and right-hand slide towards his attacker. His back is arched. He tries getting up. He is shaking.</p><p>
On two feet, he sways back and forth. That last attack, reasonably so, did a number on him. His head must be pounding, and his vision must be blurring. To him, we must be spinning. As out of it he has become, Shiitakee still positions himself to strike. He does, but his arm is caught with one of Syco’s hands and pulled. The joint becomes dislocated when it gets elbowed by Syco’s elbow. Along with his screams are the three of us, those behind Syco that are cringing at the arm being bent the wrong way, wondering what we should do. While Saamuki and I are unsure, the other Tauvox is sure of himself when he gets in front of us.</p><p>
Still, in Syco’s grip, he knees the feeble mushroom figure and twists the arm until its other socket pops. Then, push him away. Shiitakee hits the same space pod he was rushing to escape in a moment ago and falls inside. The only part out of the ship is his legs. Syco stomps towards him, and I should have snapped out of this trance of submission, of an apologist that tries to rationalize Syco’s decisions, as soon as he started using his horns. I go before things get worse, but that blood boiling Tauvox, that second-in-command, holds me back. I look at him, and he looks down at me. I grab my crown and point my staff at him. Its flames glisten on his skin and fur, but because of the angle I am holding it, he looks menacing, which the description would still fit given any other situation. “Let me through.”</p><p>
“No.”</p><p>
Syco grips one of Shiiitakee’s legs and twists it. Again, Shiitakee shouts, voicing out his pain. His voice turns into a yelp when he hits face-first on the floor.</p><p>
“I won't let you through because finally, Commander Syco is back. He is a true Tauvox again.” Immediately after the little speech that revealed his purism, he was blasted away from me. His back hits the wall furthest from us. A trail of blue smoke followed him and continues to stream out of his burnt chest as he lays limp with eyes shut.</p><p>
I turn to the source. Saamuki tells me, “I heard that enough times already.”</p><p>
The wrecked, hunched figure that is Shiitakee slips his gaping, bloody tongue between his bleeding teeth and back into his mouth. He must have bit it when he hit the floor. Shiitakee can barely look up to meet Syco’s eyes, much less spit. It plops to his chin. He swings. The hunched figure sort of swings with his good arm because he nearly slips. Effortlessly, Syco grabs his wrist and is about to swing him around, but I manage to grab a part of Syco’s arm right when he pulls it back. Syco does not look at me. “That is enough. No, this is beyond enough. What are you doing, Syco? Do you not see you are acting like your predecessor? You are better than him. I know you are,” I scolded him like he was a child. He most definitely is older than me. I have seen the creases. I say he is better than The Commander but frankly doubt this belief. I say the lie because I just wish he is. I want to believe in the lie because I need something good. I need to see some light in this awful, awful dark place we call the universe.</p><p>
Compared to everyone else besides the fallen Tauvox, he is a giant. Even with his ears perking up, he remains intimidating.</p><p>
“Let go of him. He has had enough. You said you trusted me. Well, now prove it.” He proves the opposite when he shoves me off of him. I fall, and Saamuki steps in. Another realization hits me. He never trusted me as much as he has said. He lied to himself, as well, because he wanted to believe he still had someone in the darkness he had created. He is the true coward here as he can not face the truth, can not look at me. I ask Saamuki to step away before having her and Shiitakee’s eyes on me when I offer to Syco, “If you want someone to fight, then fight me.”</p><p>
Ignoring me by proceeding to crush Shiitakee’s wrist, I swing the staff. Its fire forms a tail as I move my weapon towards Syco. Syco catches it, and lets go of Shiitakee. Seeing Shiitakee bent forward with both of his arms dangling at his sides, I reform the staff into a sword. The blade slices into Syco’s palm. He pays no mind to the blood leaking from the cut and dripping to the back of his hand. “Are you sure you want to fight me alone? Human, currently, you stand no chance against me. Without the nanites, you will be dead, but with them, you will still fall.”</p><p>
“If it means protecting the weak against people like you, I do not care.”</p><p>
“Have you already forgotten that he is a spy?</p><p>
"Fine, if you want me to fight you so badly, I will give you what you want.” A fist comes at me. I deflect it with a shield. His other hand comes barreling towards me, and I reach into my pocket. The dagger’s blade flashes the sword’s light into Syco’s eyes. Blinding him, he stumbles back and rubs his eyes. While distracted, I move towards him with my shield and dagger. By the time he gets back his sight, I am seconds from lunging the blade into him. He stops it with his hand. The small weapon goes right through it. Again, he does not react to his wounds. Because of the nanites in him too, it is understandable but terrifies me because he is no longer a person. He is no longer alive. He is dead.</p><p>
My shield slams the bottom of his chin. His head falls back, but he soon regains himself when he twists and kicks. Again, my shield can defend against his attack, and yet again, I thrust the short knife towards him. This time I can pierce his gut, but my success is met with regret. I left myself completely open, so he does to me what he did to the now on one of his knees Shiitakee. I hear the joint pop and crack. I can feel it pull apart. Saamuki once again steps forward, but I bark at her to remain where she is through my cries. I can get through this. I can heal. I can feel it healing. It is a little tingle, but what happens next is much more than a little tingle. It is a sweep kick to my knee. This time I hear the bone shatter. He tries headbutting me, but I am at least able to counter it with the shield. It vibrates, and I think I heard Syco’s skull crack. The next moment, before he punches me from both sides, I jab the broad metal piece into his neck. He gasps, I avoid his sharp claws, and my sword goes right through his shoulder.</p><p>
Syco wrenches it out by stepping away from me. His chest is puffed out, and his head is straight, as straight as it could be after that. The blood from his shoulder wound reached his fingertips. With a distance between us and the dagger's handle clenched between my teeth, I shoot arrows at him. He dashes from side to side, dodging each. When he gets uncomfortably too close, I deflect his attacks with my staff. His limbs bruise as they collide with the long, metal pole.</p><p>
“Have you already forgotten how your predecessor treated you?” He tries elbowing my face. I move out of the way, drag my incapacitated leg in the process, but his claws deems that pointless. They dig deep into my face. A gash starting from my jaw to my left eye, one I am no longer able to see through until it heals, appears on my face. It not only stings, burning, but it itches as well. I have to step away. I have to get away. I do. I get a few steps until he charges towards me. Way before he can reach me, I summon a whip, and it lashes across his face, not quite mirroring how he maimed my face. Returning the favor again, I whip the whip over and over again. Some Syco can duck and swerve away from, but most hit him since he is heading towards me. At first, they simply irritated his skin. Now they have cut into it. His blood flies left and right and up and down, following the direction of the whip.</p><p>
The Tauvox is just as bloody as me. Luckily, I have been able to hold my own. Once overhead, he tries reaching for me, but the dagger slits his fingers, cutting them into two. They twitch on the ground in the corner of my eye, but Syco continues to grab me by my hair with what little stumps he had left. I am just below his eye level. For the third time, he tries headbutting. I try protecting myself with my shield, but his other hand grabs that hand and yanks it out of its socket. Syco’s grip remains on it. It hurts, and I am hurt even more when he does get to hit me with his forehead. I fall to the ground just how Shiitakee had, if not harder. My ears are ringing, and my vision is blurry. Everything and everyone around me is spinning. I feel something warm on my forehead. It is sliding down and has moved on either side of my nose to eventually drip onto my lips. Tasting it, I find out it is my blood. It should be obvious how defenseless I am. I am powerless, vulnerable, so there should be no point in continuing. Syco does not think so as he pummeled my left and right. I see my blood fly through my fading vision, and my body is helplessly tossed around.</p><p>
Saamuki can not take it anymore. I would feel the same if roles were reversed. She punches Syco square in the face with a blue flaming fist. He flies, landing next to the still unconscious second-in-command. Leaning against the wall, Syco gets up. I get up as well by leaning against Saamuki. As he stumbles towards us, Saamuki gets herself ready for round two. I do too when I fling the staff and send it ablaze. It is reborn into my sword. “You have done enough. Leave the rest to me.”</p><p>
“No, this is my fight.” She looked at me, shocked at my willingness to keep going even though it is obvious I would not be winning this fight anytime soon, and pained to see me like this. I probably look insane to her. I probably am. She did not move away, but I did. My sword, which is gripped with my regular left hand and crippled right, connects with his horns. I try pushing him back with what little might I have left, but he can move me back easily. Coming out from it is a long ear-bleeding squeak as my shoes slide against the metal floor too. I stab him in the eye with my dagger when the back of my shoe touches the tip of her ankle-length robe.</p><p>
Both of his hands work to disconnect the sharp blade from his eye socket. I thought this was the best time to try to shove the blade through his chest, but I am proven wrong because in the next second, after the sliver of time between him taking it out and me bending my elbows to propel the blade upwards, he sunk one of his horns into me. My sword clatters to the ground. I follow soon after with first my knees, then face planting. Saamuki screamed, and I heard her running past me, towards him, immediately seeking vengeance.</p><p>
I heard Syco question before I blackout, “What have I done? What have I become?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0046"><h2>46. Chapter 46</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Significant changes have occurred while she was unconscious. One of them includes the imprisonment of Syco. Part 10 deals with the unnamed Space Explorer’s reconciliation.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Chapters 46-50 are part 10.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Beyond this cubic rock formation and the taiga beneath our dangling feet, the sun began to rise. The sky started to fade from red, pink, and purple to blue and a golden yellow as the fiery orb rose above our heads, and the animals beneath, between, and within the fir, spruce, and pine trees bellowed their yawns and growls. Birds flew above the greenery, and one fluttered towards us. Their interest was towards the small stream of water between us, though. Nearly two decades ago, before it happened, the animals on our planet would never dare to do such. They feared us for the most part. After everything, the aftermath of the invasion, both humans and animals have learned we should not fear each other but instead fear what lies beyond the limits of our touch because if we cannot touch it, then we do not know it. There was a reason God separated us from them. We learned this painfully well. Out of the ten thousand survivors of the initial attack, only one thousand survived the rebellion, barely a fraction of Earth’s population before we met Hell.</p><p>
For twenty years, we planned, survived, and lost. I lost my right leg when trying to save the girl to my right, the one staring at that very scar. Her name was Ashley. She changed her name to Kaishi a few years back because she no longer wanted to be associated with her parents. Those scumbags tried to exchange her life for those demons in exchange for theirs. She was a girl, after all. Apparently, her parents pushed for a boy five other times. All miscarriages. The only child that came from their efforts could not run their family business merely because of her gender. Up to now, I do not know what their family business was. I never want to ask because I never want her to relive those memories of pressure, hatred, and depression. So, I barely know about Kaishi’s family besides knowing her grandmother, though unfortunately, for a short time, she was the only one that showed her love until I came into her life. Her name is the way it is now because of her. It is what her grandmother would call her. I wish I met that woman because I want to thank her. If it was not for her, then the love of my life would not be here. She would instead be in an urn in some fancy mausoleum, collecting dust as she would have been forgotten because she would have ended her life at the shocking age of five.</p><p>
I place my hand on the side of her face and wipe away the tear with my thumb. “It’s okay. It’s over now,” I assured her. My throat was tired from all the shouting I had to do, so my words came out scratchy, almost harsh. I still can’t believe I led the last push in taking back our home. The lives of nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine people were entrusted into my hands. They looked at me, and in return, I finally brought them rest.</p><p>
Kaishi leaned into the touch, placed her hand above my own, closed her eyes, and kissed my hand. I’ve spent years with her, my childhood, and my early adulthood, but I blush at the touch. My cheeks heat up more when she looks into my eyes and smiles. I’ve gone through all the motions with her, first to third base, yet here I am, gushing over the quick and soft contact. I suppose if you loved them once, you could learn to love them again, or maybe it’s because we finally get to officially be together.</p><p>
Her short, red hair blew with the wind. She cut it just above her shoulders and dyed it back to red the night she chose to change her name. She changed her whole identity that night. No, she finally took back her identity.</p><p>
The bird flapped its wings and flew away. For some reason, the sight caused my heart to drop. Kaishi’s mouth moved, but I couldn’t hear it. I asked her to repeat. I couldn’t listen to her because of the wind, or so I thought. When I asked her again, her grip on my hand tightened. “Kaishi?” She lowered her head, and I saw her shoulders move up and down. She was laughing. “Kaishi, my love, what’s going on? What’s wrong—”</p><p>
She stood up. Her boots dragged against the rock beneath us as she did so. Both her hair and back were hunched forward. The very hand that clawed into the back of my own is now covered in blood, my blood. I stumbled back up using the two-handed sword I stole from those demons a few years back on our first raid. My eyes wandered back to her bloody nails. I watched my blood drip down from her nails and her brushing her hair away from her face so that I could watch her tongue slip from her pink lips, almost like how a snake slithers out from its burrow, tasting her flavored cherry chapstick before sensually licking my blood off of her fingers. She looked directly into my eyes as she did so.</p><p>
In another context, my stomach wouldn’t be churning, and I wouldn’t be forcing out a shout. My pleas for answers are met with silence. Kaishi has smiled plenty of times at me before, each I’ve loved, but not this one. This one gets me riled. “I said stop, Kaishi!”</p><p>
She did so and lowered her hand, but it’s because of that head tilt with those dead eyes that has me even more confused and especially worried. She stepped forward, and I did as well, with my other hand reaching out towards her. The love of my life, my soulmate, reached out towards me with tears pouring out of those soulless eyes, but right when our fingers are about to touch, she yanks away her hand and jumps off the cliff. I foolheartedly lunged towards her and dropped my sword in my rush. It comes clattering down upon my stomach hitting the edge. It hurts, but what I see next hurts even more. I bawled my eyes out and clutched my hand, digging and piercing into my palm, as I curled up into a ball.</p><p>
All those years of pain. All those years of planning, hoping for this day, and she gave it all away. The day I lost my leg was the day I thought I lost her. If only that version of me knew how lucky she was. I was on the floor reminiscing. The day I met her, I was alone in a field crying. Now nearly twenty years later, I’m alone on this cliff crying. I was in the fetal position until I noticed the mini waterfall, now red, almost black. The way it’s chugging down isn’t like a moment ago. It’s sluggish, almost thick. God, it is blood. I immediately scramble away, but I’m stopped in my tracks when my back hits something hard.</p><p>
It’s a shadowy figure. With whatever that thing is lowering its head to look down at me, I dash for my sword and get back up. Although it is plenty worn, bent, and scratched up, I point my dagger that’s been resting underneath my chest plate at the thing. It cocks its head, mimicking what Kaishi did before she left me, left me alone with whatever that is. I gulp down my breakfast. It burns my throat, causing me to cough. “Whatever the hell you are, please, I’m not in the mood to fight.”</p><p>
Their build matches my own. I don’t see any weapons on them, but that’s what causes my hand to shake because that means I don’t know what that thing is capable of. Steady. Assess your situation. Look for a weak point, if any.</p><p>
They step forward, but I step backward. The next step, I lunge at the faceless figure with gritted teeth, but they dodge. I turn and swing. My blade goes right through it, and I hit the ground and drop the small knife. I feel my chin scrape, but I brush the pain aside and focus on my frustration. I just killed the commander of those alien freaks about an hour ago, so sure, I’m damn tired, but I still shouldn’t be slacking like this. I roll, turning myself back to facing up, but that thing is looking away from me. Everything around me has either become engulfed in flames or has lost its color. The sky is covered in black clouds. What was once a new day, a fresh start, has now seemed to turn into the end. I cuss, but I just mouth it because I am too shocked to say it out loud. I manage to ask what happened as if it knew more than me, though. In response, it just continues its silence but turns back to look at me. It moves towards me. My eyes dart from the left then to the right. I stop it in its tracks when I point my sword straight at its neck. “After all we’ve been through,” my voice cracks as I continue my crying, “Please, this isn’t how it should end. What’s happening?”</p><p>
Something told me no matter how much I begged for answers, the thing wouldn’t share. It also told me it’s not like it knew any to begin with, but once you lose it all, you become desperate. You become irrational to keep yourself sane.</p><p>
A hand rested on my shoulder. I turned, dropped my sword, and froze because its owner is Kaishi. She’s wrecked. The fabric of her outfit is covered in rips and holes. Kaishi’s body is covered in bruises, a big one has spread across her chest, and both her right arm and leg are bent the wrong way. Blood, this time her’s, leaking from her head and the cuts from the places her armor had fallen off from because of the battle we barely managed to win, but apparently a war we lost. I let this mangled figure, one I still love, place her broken hand on my chin. She doesn’t wipe away my tears, but she brushes away the strands of hair covering my eyes. My love has become a corpse. She smiles and blushes as she metaphorically jabs her hand into my chest and yanks my still-pumping heart with ecstasy, “I’ve never loved you.”</p><p>
“K-Kaishi?”</p><p>
“How can I ever love someone that let me die?</p><p>
“No, I-I didn’t. You—”</p><p>
“You let all of us die!”</p><p>
Circling me is everyone. Those that died on the mission stood here with cuts, bullet holes, and stab wounds. Their wounds are as fresh as the last time I saw them before we wrapped them up and buried them. Also, here are those that have died long before the mission. They also appear the same way I last saw them. Adding to my pain are people I know the names of, but I don’t quite remember them. In unison, “You’ve failed all of us.”</p><p>
I lower my head and mumble, “No, I didn’t. I didn’t mean to. I tried saving all of you. I did the best I could, everything I could have done.”</p><p>
She lifts my head and continues to hit me where it hurts in front of the now-silent crowd, “And yet it wasn’t good enough. You weren’t ever good enough, but you knew this all along. Didn’t you?” She’s right. I shouldn’t have taken leadership because we would still have a world and each other. “You tried to be the hero, but the thing about that is that they only live in fiction. Let me give you some advice, love, there are two types of people. There are dreamers, those that live in fiction, and there are realists, those that live in the real world.”</p><p>
My head slumped forward once she let go. I watched my tears splatter onto my floor and saw my hands shake beneath me. I let the fires consume me. The screams from the animals below and from the figures around me have me spit out my breakfast.</p><p>
“This isn’t how it’s supposed to end because this isn’t real.” The one that said that sounded exactly like me.</p><p>
The one that said that was the faceless figure. Actually, no, it’s no longer a faceless figure because as it squeezed through the crowd, it morphed into me. While we have the same voice and now the same face, it's outfit isn’t the same as the one I have. Theirs is a black and white space suit minus the helmet.</p><p>
“What are you all doing? Don’t you dare let her through. Stop her,” who I thought was my lover commanded the crowd.</p><p>
They did not react quick enough. Me? I? She came sliding in front of me, between Kaishi and me. She grabbed the sides of my face and lifted it up so our eyes could meet. It’s weird looking into myself. “This isn’t how it ends because this is a—” My sword went right through her chest. As she spat out blood onto me and squirted out of her chest, I looked up to see the bearer of my sword. Kaishi’s hands are gripped onto my sword. She ripped out the weapon from my twin. Upon my twin landing onto me, I let my ex-lover pull and lift her by her hair. She begins to twist one of her arms.</p><p>
“How dare you touch her,” Kaishi growled at her.</p><p>
“Stop,” I ordered. The sight makes me pissed, and for some reason, it’s familiar. Kaishi ignores and continues to torture my twin senseless even though my twin began to beg for her to stop. I ask again, and still, she continues. I grab her wrist and, this time, shout but repeat myself. It’s seeing that wicked smile stretch across her purpled lips that finally let me loose. I punch Kaishi square in the face.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0047"><h2>47. Chapter 47</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>My twin fell on her back. She coughs out blood the moment she lands. I hope it’s just a spoonful of blood rather than a cup. I’d prefer her not to lose any more blood. The two of us, Kaishi and I, slid across the bumpy ground before making an abrupt stop. She’s at the edge of the cliff, whereas I’m splashed with the small stream of blood. I choke on some of it as it flows into my mouth; the iron taste overwhelms my senses before I try to lift myself with shaking arms. My arms scraped pretty severely. I manage to flip right side up, but my efforts are rewarded by one of the crowd’s members, the ten-foot-tall hairy alien one, the third one with horns, lifted me by my collar and huffed into my face. I felt my skin be pushed back because of it. There’s no way I should know this beast’s name, but I do. “Syco?”</p>
<p>
Saamuki and Mikrovos attempt to help Kaishi up and away from the cliff’s edge, but she pushes their efforts off of her. She helps herself up. S1Y, Skeema and Khavas remain with the crowd, and apparently, I know too many aliens, mainly Tauvoxes. Ojos is nowhere to be seen, but I hear her voice, though difficult to understand, as Kaishi’s voice pierces through this silent landscape. The fire has died down, and so have the animals from the forest below. This wasteland reeks with death everywhere I dare to glance. My twin hasn’t budged a single inch from her pool of blood. I fear it’s become her resting place. I’m not sure about anything right now but what I am sure of is my feelings. I’m beyond pissed. I’m weaponless, my armor won’t do much to protect me, down a leg, have for some time, and I don’t have enough energy to fight. So, I know I’m in over my head, but as Syco is distracted with the long speech Kaishi gives, which I ignore, I headbutt him.</p>
<p>
We clutch our heads as those around turn their attention back to me. My vision is blurring. Everything around me is spinning. I can feel my blood drip down from my forehead. Somehow I sit back upright. With gritted teeth and a growl, Syco takes a step towards me, but he only gets a step closer because Kaishi gets between us. Her back is facing the Tauvox’s current commander, but he is no commander here. The back of her hand is raised towards him. He relaxes, retraces his step, and then stands stiff.</p>
<p>
“Still trying to be the hero, love?”</p>
<p>
“Unfortunately, yes. Ugh!” It felt like someone was slamming a sledgehammer into my head. Tauvoxes are too durable. Hitting my forehead against Syco’s skull felt like I slammed myself into a cinder block.</p>
<p>
“Why?”</p>
<p>
A simple question, but it’s one I have trouble answering. I’ve heard the graphic stories of the millions who couldn’t make it out of the cities, and I’ve seen the actions being done to thousands and a handful right before my eyes. In each case, I couldn’t do anything but watch. I was either too young, too weak, or too scared. I’ve had nightmares about my powerlessness. The guilt and regret ate me up as I tossed and turned for two decades, never getting sleep. At one point, I wanted to end my life because I thought it wasn’t ever going to end. They tried to exterminate us all because they needed a new home. Those bastards could’ve easily wiped out all of us all at once, but instead, they wanted to prolong their entertainment in torturing us until our bodies gave out. So, I should say that I continue to be a hero because I want to seek vengeance and make up for all the times I couldn’t do anything. Instead, here I was, finding it difficult to do just that. I merely stared at her until I answered, “I don’t know.”</p>
<p>
She reached her hands out towards my sword and dagger. They shook, then flew towards her hands at such a speed that it pulled me towards her and then had me land on my face. When they connected with her palms, it sounded like a bomb went off. It was like magic. She never showed herself to have such power, but Kaishi never showed she could revive herself. Kaishi moved both weapons above her head, towards each other, and when they collided, it was like thunder erupted. Light magically flashed from them, blinding me.</p>
<p>
I open my eyes to see both have fused. A sword of two equal, massive blades is gripped in Kaishi’s hands. She shifts the sword so that only one of her hands is holding it, and the other is resting at her side. The blade is balanced and angled on her shoulder. Somehow those intense blades didn’t cut right through her shoulder and tear her in half. At this point, I shouldn’t be questioning how much any of this makes sense. I need to focus on surviving. I can make sense of all of this later if I make it out of this.</p>
<p>
“You’re confused and hurt. Love, I can help you with that.” She removed that monstrous sword from her shoulder and placed it on her other bare palm. It didn’t cut her.</p>
<p>
“Help me by killing me.” My voice cracked.</p>
<p>
“Be honest with yourself, love. You’ve been wanting death for years, but you were too scared to do it on your own. I promise I’ll make it quick and painless,” she cooed out. She pouted, and when she noticed my displeasure, she snapped her expression to be one filled with laughter. “Besides, you literally can’t stand. Were you planning on crawling away from someone with two legs?”</p>
<p>
“Maybe? Probably. Yes.”</p>
<p>
“Adorable, but I am serious about my promise.”</p>
<p>
“Shove that sword down your throat and choke on it.”</p>
<p>
Again, she laughs at me as she drags the sword across the rocks beneath us. She could’ve just lifted it with both hands rather than let it cut between stone and create an ear-bleeding screech, but she’d instead relish in my squirming, huffing, and gulping. I tried doing what I say I’d do, crawling away. My attention should be towards trying to flee, but instead, I notice my twin’s right leg twitching.</p>
<p>
Kaishi is overhead, reverting my eyes’ focus to her smile. She lifts the sword up above her head and has the blade pointed directly between my eyes. I look around, and that’s when it hits me. It’s childish, but when you know you’re about to die, and it’s a way to prolong your life, even if it’s for a few seconds, who cares about what it is. I splash the bloody water into her eyes. Kaishi stumbles back, still gripping the sword, but one of her hands is trying to wipe away my desperation. Behind her, I hear Syco and the crowd members move. Kaishi orders them to remain where they are, but her temporary blindness isn’t the reason why they’ve moved. The reason should be a shock and an impossibility, but I accept it because of everything that’s happened.</p>
<p>
My twin hops from Syco’s head and dashes towards me. I cover my face, hoping to protect myself from the impact, one of which I soon understand I won’t feel. Again, a light blinds me, and with it, Kaishi finally wipes off the mess because she screams, “No!”</p>
<p>
Once the light disappears, I flutter my eyes open, and after weeks, nearly two months of being disabled, I have my right leg back. That’s not all. My outfit has changed. I look like a knight with the same monochrome color scheme as my twin’s outfit. My twin is nowhere to be seen, but I have a feeling I know where she is. Not only that, but with my change, I know who she truly is.</p>
<p>
As I get up using my newly formed right leg, Kaishi has a tantrum. She stomps, jumps, and screams. The crowd and I step back, but neither of us can flee as she turns herself around to face the group that was behind her and opens her mouth wide. She begins to suck up the crowd. After she does, she grabs the sides of her face. She screams yet again but begins to laugh as a flash of golden light envelops her. I’m not blinded this time, but I wish I was because I see faces, familiar ones, pop out of her flesh. They scream as she continues to laugh and transform. I try to stop her transformation from finishing, but I can’t even take a step towards her because somehow that light is pushing me away, so I’m left to watch once again.</p>
<p>
She finishes with a white cloak engulfing her with a circular symbol on the back of it. She no longer has her sword, but now she has a horrific wrinkled face. Hundreds of faces have been squeezed between her wrinkles, each with eyes crying out blood.</p>
<p>
“Watcher,” I whispered the realization under my breath with eyes wide and another gulp. My body moved for me as I flung my right arm to the side and what came next is the emanation of a familiar blazing two-handler, almost like my previous one before she stole it, but without all the sci-fi elements.</p>
<p>
With the flick of her finger, her feminine features, what was left of them, disappear. Her face is now covered by a faceless mask. “Not quite.” Its voice is deep but not quite masculine. It is powerful. The figure’s voice makes me feel like my organs are on the brink of exploding.</p>
<p>
“A Lord? Here? But this is just a—”</p>
<p>
“Now.” They wiggle their index finger from right to left before continuing, “Don’t ruin my fun just let.” I puke out. “Gross.”</p>
<p>
“Why are you here? What am I doing here?” I press my free hand against my forehead, which has now healed. Although, it hurt trying to remember. “I was battling Syco...Shit! I need to get out of here.” I turned around one moment, and the next, I’m right in front of the Lord. The Lord moves its hand towards me, and I move my sword towards it. It goes right through where its stomach should be, but the Lord just laughs. The faces stretched across their arms open their mouths and laugh as well, but they’re forcing it out as they’re crying out blood as well. The sight grosses me out, but it does not warrant another puke. I don’t have anything else in me to throw up anyways, but my guts feel like purging again when the Lord begins to talk again.</p>
<p>
“Sorry, human. I must admit to you that I am a little bit insane. Okay, I’m pretty much insane.” To my surprise, one that nearly has me let go of the sword, the Lord caresses my chin. It’s gentler than how Kaishi did, but considering she was this Lord, it’s another surprise, I suppose. “Although, it’s because of my insanity that helps me be such a great performer. I’ve played so many characters, yet all were believable. How were my lines? You think they were passionate, eh?”</p>
<p>
“Passionate, maybe, but not believable.”</p>
<p>
Sure, I can’t see the Lord’s eyes through that mask, but I felt them. I felt the Lord’s judging glare. They sigh. “A shame.” It lets go of my face. “Two thousand years and yet I can’t produce the perfect play. Playing director can be straining.”</p>
<p>
“Everything that is and was here was made by you?” I shouldn’t be surprised about a Lord’s power, but I still am amazed. Maybe it’s the shock that I am before another Lord that drives me to question because I’d rather wish this not be true.</p>
<p>
“Of course, but you were the producer. Can’t create a world out of thin air. This is all in your subconscious. I just pull strings. You called me over here, after all.</p>
<p>
“You are such an interesting person. Maybe the most interesting case I’ve ever had to deal with. Actually, no. That short woman with the four eyes was way more interesting than you.”</p>
<p>
There’s a power difference between us. The Lord is the one in power while I am not, but I buried down my fear when I clutched its cloak and pulled them closer to me. “What did you do to Ojos?”</p>
<p>
“No need to get so worked up, human. Nothing happened to that poor, old hag. She didn’t submit to my offer.”</p>
<p>
“Offer? You tried to kill her just like you did with me?”</p>
<p>
“Of course. Souls are a delicacy. I haven’t eaten one in so long.” In the corner of my eye, the faces on their arms licked their lips. I pulled my sword off of the Lord and my grip and jumped away from them. In the process, they jerked forward and began to laugh. I clutched my sword in both hands as the demonic figure raised their head and slid one of their hands on their face, mimicking how Kaishi brushed away her hair. Then, they flew towards me. I swung, but before my blade connected with the Lord, I woke up to my hand right about to open an airlock and heard Saamuki calling out to me. I lower my hand, and I let her embrace me.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0048"><h2>48. Chapter 48</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Commander."</p><p>
"Commander," I mouthed, taking a moment to realize what was said until breaking away from her and turning. I expected Syco to be near. The three saluting are Tauvoxes, one I'm familiar with, but Syco is nowhere to be found. In the middle is the second-in-command who flinches when Saamuki notices his presence.</p><p>
He stutters a bit before regaining his composure and continuing, "Commander Saamuki."</p><p>
I turn to her, but her eyes are directed at the Tauvox. Saamuki is the leader of the Tauvoxes? When did that happen? How long was I out? Saamuki has proven she does have leadership qualities, but it's just weird how this small, gentle serpent now leads possibly the most barbaric species in the known Universe. Well, she's not so pacific as of recently.</p><p>
She straightens herself and places her hands behind her back with her chest puffed out. Her eyes flick to blue. The three Tauvoxes before us, especially the one who's now her second-in-command, are much taller than either of us, yet here she was managing to look down on them. "Lieutenant, I thought I explicitly commanded that my friend be watched until she woke up and when she did I was to be notified."</p><p>
"I apologize, Commander Saamuki." His second salute is followed by the two Tauvoxes who are awkwardly standing on either side of him, scrambling to do the same.</p><p>
"You're apologizing to me, lieutenant? I believe she's the one you should be apologizing to. Not only was she about to open an airlock but you encouraged Syco, which led us to this situation in the first place." The lieutenant's grimace turns to me. I prepare for a fight as I whip my right arm to the side. My sword manifests in my right hand, and I motion for my body to move towards him, but when Saamuki places a hand in front of me before I can even take the first step, I halt and look at her again. She's barely glowing. The lights above make it hard to see that blue glow, but I can feel its heat. "Do you want me to repeat what I said, or would you rather repeat what I did?"</p><p>
His face relaxed. He sighs, "No, I apologize for everything."</p><p>
"Good, now is there a reason you left your post?"</p><p>
“Yes, Commander Saamuki. We just received a transmission and I think it's worth accepting. It's from one of your comrades aboard Commander Knox's ship."</p><p>
During our run, the other Tauvoxes saluted Saamuki, pausing from their duties to show their respects, but I saw no signs of Syco, so I looked at Saamuki as her words haunted me. Did she kill Syco? He wanted to kill me. I felt where his horn pierced through me, where the hole should be, as we continued running. I have no scar from it besides my torn clothing and the mental fault; a flash of the event hit me, but I don't think we can afford to decrease our numbers. We need as many people if we're going to survive this even if it means working with Syco.</p><p>
The deck's door slid upwards. "Accept it," Saamuki ordered as soon as we stepped inside to the Tauvoxes down below who are typing away.</p><p>
Skeema appeared. Just like how the last I heard of him hinted, he's wounded. His left arm has been completely ripped off of his body, so he can't reform a new one. One of his eyes is swollen, and he appears to have been shot through his left leg. He's covered in cuts, nothing too brutal there. I don't think he's lost too much blood, but with how he's looking, he still went through some hell. He brushes away the sweat from his forehead and smirks when he notices Saamuki and me. "It's good to see you two again, especially you, Saamuki. You're away from Cabelo for once," he coughed out.</p><p>
He's in that state because of me. No, I know better than to begin my self-hatred in moments like this. This is bigger than me. Focus. Assess the situation at hand.</p><p>
"Thank goodness you're alright. You are alright, right?"</p><p>
He spits out some blood before responding with, "I'm not anywhere close to dying if that's what you mean."</p><p>
Saamuki looks around him before questioning, "Where are the others? Please, tell me they're alright?"</p><p>
"Mikrovos is fine and so is Ashley."</p><p>
The two of us let out a sigh of relief.</p><p>
"But I didn't risk my life to contact you two just to drop in and report that none of us are dead." He looks at me, "As I said with you, Knox is planning something big. Knox wants to absorb everyone's souls, those that have nanites."</p><p>
"He wants to make himself a Watcher, or a version of it," I concluded.</p><p>
"Yes, he believes he's the only way to defeat the Lords of the Universe."</p><p>
Saamuki steps forward, pushing past the Tauvoxes ahead of us. "What? How is that even possible?"</p><p>
The lieutenant, who has his arms crossed over his chest, huffs, which Saamuki ignores.</p><p>
"It sounds impossible, I know, but do you know how the nanites connect with the brain?"</p><p>
"Yes."</p><p>
No.</p><p>
"Well, those tiny things scan the entirety of your brain. It's how they can advance the body and heal the organic parts as it learns which string, so to speak, to pull. Unfortunately, I don't have such a luxury.</p><p>
"The nanites are so thorough that they scan the quarks in your brain."</p><p>
"I'm guessing the quarks in the brain are what we define as a soul."</p><p>
"Correct, as always, Saamuki. My younger self, years before we met, knew about this. I interrogated Knox about it when I was his commander as soon as I put the pieces together. It's why I didn't remember my past for some time. That bastard not only erased my memories but pinned my people against me as well. But this is all my fault because I was the one that instigated these endeavors of his." He slammed his fist on his intercom. "Damn me."</p><p>
I cut back into the conversation, "Skeema, I know better than anyone that bullying yourself won't do anything but distract you from the real issue. How long do we have until Knox becomes his own Watcher?"</p><p>
"He's injected nanites into all the soldiers and pirates we've beaten." Knox's ship shakes; something has hit the spaceship. Skeema almost falls over. Luckily he has a good grip on the intercom before him. "He wants a billion souls. After he defeats the Space Pirates blasting us right now and the planet we're heading to next, he will accomplish this. A little over a billion, though, after the planet. We have half a day at the most."</p><p>
Saamuki's second-in-command breaks out of his aloof state because of this dire news. The weight of the matter finally hits him.</p><p>
"A billion souls? That has to be a deathwish, right? Not even real Watchers have more than twenty souls. The Lord I just talked with only had a couple thousand at best." Saamuki steals a quick glance from me. "I'll explain later," I told her.</p><p>
Skeema continues, "Maybe the nanites won't cause him to explode, but if I read the right file, which I'm sure I did, then that many souls will overload him. Unless…" He rubs his chin. "He must have a different set of nanites, a better version. Of course his nanites would be different. Why didn't I see that before?"</p><p>
"Skeema."</p><p>
"Yes, Saamuki."</p><p>
"You said something about a file. Can you send it to us?" A moment later, of him typing, and the ship received the file, which one of the Tauvoxes below confirmed. "Thank you, Skeema, but considering you're not under Knox's control—"</p><p>
Skeema interrupts her with, "Knox placed a firewall even I can't crack, so I can't help the others. Even if I could it would take too long to deactivate a substantial number of nanites, but I'm also not here to just relay bad news. I have some good news too. I believe I've cracked half of the firewall." He sends information about this too and then looks directly at me for the second time. "After the last time we spoke, I have reason to believe you hold a code somewhere in your chip thanks to your nanites that can override the firewall and deactivate all of the nanites instantaneously."</p><p>
"Considering Syco's background, why in the Universe would Knox create such a catastrophic hole in his plan," Saamuki asked Skeema.</p><p>
"That's because he didn't. Knox isn't the only brain behind this. Before becoming infamous, Apulsion, Syco's predecessor, thought of this exact same plan. At the time, Apulsion knew the chances of survival would be slim because technology hadn't advanced enough. So, he wrote a fail-safe."</p><p>
Mikrovos is right. The Commander did some good things when he was alive, but mainly awful things. It's technically his fault we're even having this issue.</p><p>
"Got it. Get the code. Deactivate the nanites."</p><p>
On his side, metal being banged can be heard, which Skeema turns towards. "Damn it. He found me." Skeema reforms his only hand left into a blade. A figure bolts towards him before the transmission ends. As quick as the figure moved, I caught a good enough glimpse to know who that was.</p><p>
"S1Y is alive." I could cry because of the relief this brought me, but I was more concerned about Skeema, which Saamuki is too, of course.</p><p>
"Skeema? Skeema!"</p><p>
Five minutes have passed since Skeema's transmission abruptly ended. Commander Saamuki has her screen floating in front of her. Currently, she's pacing back and forth while scrolling through the code of my nanites.</p><p>
Saamuki's second-in-command walks up behind her. Before the lieutenant can interrupt her, he salutes, and when he's about to open his mouth to speak, he is interrupted by her. "Have we gotten in contact with Sakhra yet?"</p><p>
"Unfortunately not, Commander Saamuki." That was the first time I've seen the lieutenant genuine.</p><p>
"Keep trying. We have to find him before it's too late."</p><p>
He salutes before leaving the two of us. We're not alone as he rejoins the other Tauvoxes below, but he's far enough to make me feel awkward. Even him staying would make me feel less self-conscious. The question is on the tip of my tongue, but I'm afraid to ask because what's happening right now is something much more important than my vendetta. Staying here is the more sensible option as I might be needed, even though I'm not an expert in either code or Sakhra. My cognitive dissonance must've been clearly written over my face because Saamuki breaks me out of my thoughts when she calls me. Her face is greener than usual, thanks to her screen. Much of it is blocked by all the numbers, letters, and symbols, but I can see the understanding in her still blue eyes.</p><p>
"Cabelo is similar to me as he too is an orphan. The first war took away his family as well," she laughs, "Cabelo thought opening that hotel would help people like him. He wasn't wrong because in all honesty it did help me, but I know it did more harm than good to me. Now that I realize this I wish I could've talked with him about what he did to me and what he's been doing to many others instead of nearly killing him. So, that's why I'm telling you he's on the third level. I'm sure you know where he is now, but I hate that you do."</p><p>
Words can't erase what was done, but time can. So, I stuff the pain away and thank her before I leave.</p><p>
The hallway is long, too long. All but one of those dark cells is empty. That one, to my surprise, already has someone talking to the person of interest inside. I can't hear what Shiitakee is telling Syco, but I have a feeling it's really personal, so I take my time walking towards the two to give them more time to talk it out. My hand slides across the bars. They're cold, unsurprisingly they are, but they create music with my touch. It's not worthwhile music, but it's still powerful nonetheless. It makes me feel heartfelt because I'm not the one on the other side of those bars this time. I'm no longer a prisoner to others.</p><p>
My anthropomorphic mushroom friend removes his eyes from Syco and places them onto me. He smiles through his cigarette. It's soft. It's the same understanding look Saamuki gave to me. I guess I was too loud. Whoops, but with that look, at least I didn't interrupt them in the middle of their conversation. It appears I made it just in time, right after their conversation ended.</p><p>
"Ah, I was wondering when you'd come." I take a good look at him. He's all healed up. Thankfully he is, but his nanites had a whole day to repair him because apparently, I was unconscious for an entire day. "Oh, yeah. I've been fully healed for the past twenty two hours." An awkward silence hits us until he realizes we've been staring at each other for too long. Shiitakkee excuses himself, and before he's out of earshot, he reveals I won't be alone with Syco because he'll be waiting down the hall just in case.</p><p>
I turn to Syco, who has a shadow looming over him as his back is against the wall facing across from me, head lowered, and has shackles locked on his wrists. My fists are shaking as I grit my teeth and furrow my eyebrows. "You're a bastard, Syco."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0049"><h2>49. Chapter 49</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You dehumanized me. You forced me to not only watch my homeworld be taken away but watch my friends turn against me. Not only that, but you lied. Sure, I am to blame for this and that, but there is only so much I can blame myself for.</p>
<p>
“It eats me up inside. It doesn’t matter how much I try not to think about it because I’ll always remember it, the stupid decisions I made. I was only thinking about me. One day I hope they can forgive me and I can forgive myself. Maybe one day I can even forgive you, but I can’t do that if you can’t even look at me.” His slumped figure hasn’t moved. So, I punch a few of the bars in front of me. The large metal rods vibrate. It rings in my ears, but the sound only makes my emotions explode even more. I grasp two of them and clutch them until my knuckles turn white. I let go and continue on my rant, “Fine. Be that way, but at least your predecessor would say something. Anything.”</p>
<p>
When Syco turns his head away from me, I sigh. My state is no longer filled with hotheadedness but instead its heartbrokenness. I press my back against his cell and then find myself weeping.</p>
<p>
His shackles move, strain, and scrape against the metal floor because of the strength of his pulling as he moves towards me. I don’t turn around, but I can feel him leaning against his cell, behind me. The two of us sat there in silence. Those bars stood between us, separating us, but it’s what he said that made me forget about this. His words are hushed, “I’m sorry, for everything. I know everything that I’ve done to you and those before you are wrong. Words can’t fix all the messed up things I did. I also know blaming my sickness won’t either. That’s why I let Commander Saamuki throw me in here. Being isolated here has let me think about all I’ve done. It opened my eyes. That being said, I don’t care if you believe me or if I’m never forgiven by you and everyone else I’ve wronged because I know I don’t deserve that.”</p>
<p>
I raise my knees to my chin, wrap my arms around them, hugging myself snugly, and wipe away my tears as I look up at the lights above. “I wanted to believe I finally found someone that understood. That was stupid of me because I already have people that listen.”</p>
<p>
“And you’re wrong.”</p>
<p>
Standing back up, stiff, I ask, “Excuse me?”</p>
<p>
“Again, I’m not discounting everything I did wrong, but I didn’t dehumanize you. You’re still human even with the nanites. Maybe you’re even more human with them. The Universe needs more people like you.” Syco reaches up, and he touches the same horn that stabbed me. “Maybe I’m not in the right place to say this, but thank you.”</p>
<p>
Relaxing my posture, I respond with, “For what?”</p>
<p>
“For being the only one to call me out.”</p>
<p>
“Well, at least you’re learning to listen. I still need to figure that out.” A laugh escapes from my lips, but I’m not happy. I’m hurt. I’m broken.</p>
<p>
It’s as if Syco read my mind because he replies, “You’re not broken. No one is. We’re all people and we make mistakes, some unforgivable, but there’s always still time to learn, at least that’s what I’ve recently been telling myself. I just know we’re not God, so stop forcing yourself into trying to be them.</p>
<p>
“Unlike me you’re not imprisoned. You’re free. Please, human, do better than me.”</p>
<p>
“I’m going to ask Saamuki about letting you free.” His ears perk up, and from looking over his shoulder, I can see him looking down at his hands, at his shackles. “This isn’t because you’re forgiven. You’re far from being Mikrovos and you’re not like your predecessor. I can accept that now, but we need all the help we can get right now.”</p>
<p>
“I suppose you’re referencing Commander Knox’s plan.”</p>
<p>
“You’ve known about his plan?...Of course you do.”</p>
<p>
He admits, “I wanted to destroy it all. I didn’t care who was hurt. I told myself these things for a long time, but that’s not true. If it was, then I wouldn’t have put those nanites into you. Everything I’ve done was a cry for help. We all want somebody to save us from ourselves, but it’s up to us to be our own heroes. If Commander Saamuki agrees to let me free, I want to save those who forget this. Still, I am a bastard. I’ll always be no matter what I do because I can’t erase what I did, but I can help save what people can do.”</p>
<p>
He turns to me. There are bags underneath his red eyes; Syco has been crying. It’s that realization that gets me to crouch down so that we’re the same height. Syco opens his mouth and barely phrases the first word of what he wants to say before closing his mouth, hesitating. The Tauvox gulps and looks away from me briefly until he turns back around and meets my eyes again. “I wish I can take back what you’ve had to go through, but The Commander is still alive.” I knew this already because I saw it before my eyes when Saamuki and I went into that trippy state a few days back. Because I already know, it doesn’t mean I’m okay with remembering. The reminder has me clench my jaw. “I’ve been trying to keep him alive by feeding his body the energy from the ship’s crystal for months now. I thought with him like that I’ll get him to finally listen to me. I’ve learned there’s no point in talking to a corpse. He’s in the basement. You deserve the right to know.”</p>
<p>
I ease the tension boiling in me with a sigh, unclenching my jaw. “Thank you, friend.”</p>
<p>
This other person before me, a new friend of mine, gives me a lopsided smile, but it’s the happiest I’ve ever seen him.</p>
<p>
Overhead the dim light buzzed. On either side of us, it is pitch black. It looked like two blackholes sat on opposite ends of the hallway, hungry. I felt like I was being pulled towards them. The walk to get here was long, but after several twists and turns and one ladder later, we stood before the room. I have a holographic screen before my hands. Just one swipe across its smooth surface and this agonizing wait, one that gets my heart thumping and goosebumps to prickle along with the hair on my arms, can finally be over. It’s simple, yet here my hand is, quivering above it. I was on the verge of throwing up, but Shiitakee rested his hand on my nervous one. “You’re not going to face him alone. I’m here.”</p>
<p>
No one knows we’re down here besides Syco, so we’re all alone in the gloomiest part of the ship. Even so, I told him, “No, I want to face him alone. He can’t hurt me or anyone else again.”</p>
<p>
My mushroom friend let go of me and raised his eyebrow. “A-Are sure you want to go in alone?”</p>
<p>
I smile at him and confidently reply, “Yes. Besides, Saamuki probably needs your help. Before I left, they were having trouble contacting Sakhra, her friend who’s also against Syco, the other Space Pirates, and, well, the Lords, but who isn’t?”</p>
<p>
He scratches the back of his cap and then looks off to the side. “Sakhra, is it? That name sounds familiar, but I don’t think he’s part of the group I’m in. My group is small, so I know the members.”</p>
<p>
My eyes widen, and I lower the small green screen. Putting the hand not holding the device behind my back, I begin to form my sword. “Small? How small are we talking about?”</p>
<p>
“Four hundred and twenty eight, as of the last time I got into contact with them. Why?” His question is answered with my sword being pointed at his neck. Shiitakee raises his hands. “Whoa. Whoa there. What’s all this about?”</p>
<p>
“You’re with that four eyed guy who originally owned my dagger.”</p>
<p>
“Dagger? Oh, that one. I knew it looked familiar. Bichak’s, right?” I move the blade’s point even closer to his neck. “Look, I’m not sure what trouble has Bichak caused you, but I swear I’m not out here planning to do the same.”</p>
<p>
“He tried killing Sahkra, Saamuki, and me.”</p>
<p>
“Okay, yeah I see why you want to decapitate me now, but I assure you I’m on whatever is the right side, which is your side. I only joined Bichak and his group for Syco’s sake. As of an hour ago, I’m technically not in it. I haven’t told them yet because I haven’t gotten a hold of anyone, but I told Syco. You can ask him, but I swear once I can get ahold of them then I’ll terminate my membership.”</p>
<p>
When my eyes meet with the top of his cap, I lower my weapon. “I can’t kill you. You are, or I guess were, a spy. It’s in you to double-cross, but as I told Syco we need everyone on board.”</p>
<p>
“Thank you for not killing me, but what exactly are we ‘on board’?”</p>
<p>
“I’ll tell you the gist of it. You can ask Saamuki if you want the details, but Commander Knox wants to become his own Watcher. We have less than twelve hours if we’re lucky before he downloads everyone that has nanites’ souls into himself.”</p>
<p>
“Everyone? That has to be tens of thousands by now, right?”</p>
<p>
“It’ll be a little more than a billion, but Saamuki is working on a way to stop this using a code that was embedded into my nanites. I’m sure she can find it and deactivate all the nanites with it, but I’m planning for the aftermath. They’ll still be a war once Knox is dealt with and there’s also the case of the Lords. Something needs to be done with them as well. They’re keeping my homeworld and the rest of the Universe imprisoned.”</p>
<p>
“Again, not the strangest thing I’ve heard. I get it, I really do, but you’re asking for a lot. Look, let me get this right. That code Saamuki’s trying to find will turn off all the nanites, right?”</p>
<p>
“Yeah.”</p>
<p>
“Then, if the nanites are destroyed how can we do anything about the Lords?”</p>
<p>
I didn’t plan that far ahead, but it’s an obvious obstacle. Maybe I didn’t want to think that far ahead because I know I’ll lose my only chance at defeating the Lords. “I’ll think of something once we get to that point.”</p>
<p>
“We’ll think of something,” Shiitakee corrected me.</p>
<p>
I didn’t respond, and I left him. The door closes behind me, so now I’m truly alone. Just a few feet before me is the cause of all of this, glowing green because of the tubes inserted into him, connected with the ship’s life source, stretched on a long, metal table. My body shook, and it told me there’s still time. I could turn back around and call Shiitakee to join me before it’s too late, but I pushed my wants aside because this is my time to be brave. I need to do this alone for my sake and for everyone else’s sake.</p>
<p>
Back straight, chest puffed out, and hands clenched at my sides, I stride towards the one who took away a part of me. Somehow The Commander looked far worse than when I last saw him. It could be because my anger blinded me last time, but his skin looks more purple, yellower, and of course, greener. The light above me shines onto me. I probably look like an angel staring down at the devil, but I am no angel with the things I wanted to say and do to Mikrovos’s aftermath. His green glow is prominent, mainly because of how poorly lit this room is, but all I can see is red. It’s not because I’m blinded by anger. I’m empowered by my strength to keep my emotions at bay even though I got out my sword when his eyes darted towards me. I didn’t stab him right then and there, but that’s the thing. Even though green is reflected onto his eyes, all I see is an abyss. Unlike Syco’s eyes, his are nothing but darkness. They’re duller than coal and colder than the icy planet we last stood face to face.</p>
<p>
“You come to me again,” the corpse wheezed out. I noticed a vein had popped out of the sickly Tauvox’s throat, which only has scraps of fur left and has patchy skin. If I look hard enough, I can spot a hole in his throat, surrounded by green pus. It must’ve strained his dying vocal cords as he’s clearly decaying. He coughs right after. What’s left of The Commander’s claws sink into the table beneath him until he spits out a thick, dark yellow, and bloody phlegm. It slides down from the tip of his bottom lip to his chin. The gross fluid drips onto his chest’s fur. I try not to gag.</p>
<p>
“Wait, you really did see me that time?”</p>
<p>
“Even you, a human, can see that I am dying. I can see such things easily now.” He smirks before continuing, “I wished for the death of others, I relished in their agony, and now I wish for my own, well deserved karma. Since you’re here it must mean you’re here to kill me.”</p>
<p>
“I’m just doing what Syco failed to do and that is finally letting you go.” That’s when I raise my sword above my head and prepare to swing. Before I can slay this beast and release myself from my demons, he presents a trembling and bony hand before me. Its flesh looked like it was melting off of its skeletal structure.</p>
<p>
He’s looking up at the ceiling and smiles. It’s genuine. What surprises me next is that he begins to cry. “I’m proud of Mikrovos, Syco, and even Khavas. All three of those men did something I couldn’t and that was breaking away from our culture’s dreaded expectations. Most importantly they, at one point, stood against me. It’s because of this state I’ve been in for months that I realize in my fight against the Universe I was really fighting myself. I don’t deserve to plead, but please before I die can you promise me you will tell them I am proud of the men they’ve become?”</p>
<p>
“I promise, Apulsion.”</p>
<p>
His smile is turned into a smirk before he continues, “Thank you.” He closes his eyes. His chest stops moving. I hadn’t killed him because he was already dead. The room darkens as the tubes slowly dull. I drop the sword, it goes clattering onto the floor. I fall onto my knees and sob.</p>
<p>
As I walk out of the room, I wipe away the tears from my eyes. I should feel relieved. I feel relieved for a moment until Shiitakee comes rushing down the ladder across from me. He ran up to me and panted. “Shiitakee, what’s wrong?”</p>
<p>
“Saamuki. Code. Found it.”</p>
<p>
“Really? That’s great!”</p>
<p>
Once Shiitakee catches his breath, he reveals, “No, it isn’t. I mean it was great at first, but she activated the fail-safe. It didn’t work.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0050"><h2>50. Chapter 50</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Shiitakee and I came barging back into the ship’s command center panting and sweating from cutting what was supposed to take fifteen minutes from the basement to the center by walking to a forth by running. My running companion is gripping the door frame as he tries to catch his breath. Between breaths, he mumbles how he needs to cut back on smoking as I include myself into the meeting at hand, which continues to proceed even with our unexpected, loud arrival. I take my position at Saamuki’s right. She and several Tauvoxes, high-ranking ones, including the lieutenant, of course, are looking down at the large holographic three-dimensional layout of what I can only guess is Commander Knox’s spaceship. One of the rooms, a big one, is missing. So, there’s a giant hole in the middle of the illustration. I don’t get the chance to guess what it is because when Saamuki points at it, she figures it out for me.</p><p>
“That must be where the ship’s crystal is, but why isn’t its room showing up?”</p><p>
One of the Tauvoxes, who I’ve only seen one other time, which was when Syco carried the three of us back on the ship, speaks up after saluting her. “Pardon me, Commander Saamuki, but is it really wise to stage an assault on Commander Knox? They outnumber us one to ten million and most of them are our own.”</p><p>
I only caught a glimpse of him the last time I saw him. Now that he’s standing to my left, I can see his brown fur has sprinkles of white and grey. His body type is similar to the others in that he is muscular and about double either mine or Saamuki’s heights, but he’s wider. His stomach is protruding. There’s a scar over his left eye, and a small metal pole has replaced the bottom half of his right leg. The captain, as I soon learn his rank, truly fits the physical description of a pirate.</p><p>
“Captain, if it comes to that, we just have to give it our all. That being said, our best option should be having a small group sneaking onto the ship and assassinating Knox while he’s busy conquering that planet. Rescue the others as well, but finding Shiitakee should be our priority.”</p><p>
“Then, I volunteer to go, Commander Saamuki,” the lieutenant offered. He saluted when Saamuki made eye contact with him.</p><p>
“No. We can’t afford to bring any Tauvox with us. This mission requires stealth. Besides, you’ve proven you can keep this entire ship from blowing up.”</p><p>
“That would put you at four hours if Commander Knox defeats Commander Zel in the time I calculated, which my calculations are never wrong.” This Tauvox standing right across from Saamuki would look like any other Tauvox, but his fur is longer than the rest. He tied the ones on his head into a ponytail, which looks like a wolf’s tail because of its aged appearance. He gets out a screen and tosses it towards us. Once it’s right above the replica of the enemy ship, it changes into three shapes. One is a large ball and the second is a dot slowly inching towards the larger shape. The third is a clock that shows how much time we have left. We’re at eleven hours, twenty minutes, and thirty seconds. “With such limited time, Commander Saamuki, if none of us can join you in such an imperative mission, one that will decide the fate of the entire Universe, who could possibly qualify then?”</p><p>
All these men had their eyes on her. As someone who was once a sex worker and one who still looks like one, even with her conservative outfit, the look of these men isn’t of lust. They are hungry, yes, but not for a taste of Saamuki. Instead, those eyes hungered for answers and hope, hope for their commander to make the right decision.</p><p>
The fate of quadrillions is in the hands of us—a snake possessed by some nonbinary ghost, a mushroom with a smoking addiction, and a human with a magical crown. They flew towards Commander Knox’s spaceship using Saamuki’s much smaller spaceship. Her Tauvoxes are following not too far away. Commander Knox had apparently defeated Commander Zel an hour earlier than predicted, which got a rise out of the ponytailed Tauvox. While the three of us didn’t show how anxious we are, I could feel it in the room. Shiitakee and I stayed silent. While piloting her ship Saamuki mentioned how we’re finally getting the others back, but I didn’t vocalize my excitement.</p><p>
I didn’t vocalize anything because I was far from excited, even if I’ve been longing for this moment. I just sat and watched the stars fly past us, looking like lines because of how fast this tiny ship was going, with the outfit I copied from my dream using my crown. I did look at Saamuki, though. Without words, we shared something, and that was acknowledging our contingency plan. If we failed, then one of us would need to stay behind while the others escaped. The one that does would have to detonate Knox’s crystal. That would instantly kill everyone in a hundred-mile radius. Not even an overpowered Watcher could survive such an explosion, which would mean the one that would stay behind wouldn’t either. Hopefully, that doesn’t happen. I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.</p><p>
Quadrant Eighty-Five. The planet is called Vecta. It’s the same as I remember it. Its moons light up the night sky, this rocky landscape, and its light glints around the edges of those ahead, on the other side of this boulder. I can see Tauvoxes, Virmuses, and other alien species fighting on Knox’s side. No signs of Skeema, Ashley, Mikrovos, or even Khavas. They clash against the Talten’s blazing weapons and the weapons of the other figures. I spot a red-painted symbol, which is glowing, on one of the wrists of the Talten’s allies. Not only may Licata be part of the fight but Sakhra too. Saamuki doesn’t know who she is, of course, but I can see she realizes the same thing I do in the case of her long-time rock friend. She turns to us with fiery blue eyes. “We have a mission. We can worry about the fight later. Come on you two while everyone is busy fighting each other.”</p><p>
Saamuki, with a blaster far more superior than the ones we used in the beginning, is the one in front leading us to Knox’s ship that’s about a yard away. I’m in the middle with my dagger in one hand and my own blaster in the other. It’s just as strong as the one in her grip. Before we separated from her Tauvoxes, I watched her test them. They went through five walls of what’s been her ship for about two days now. It nearly took off an inch of the Tauvox in one of the rooms she shot through. Luckily he dodged just in time, or he would’ve joined Apulsion in the afterlife. Shiitakee is last in case he needs to omit one of his gases and is empty-handed. What he can do with that cap compensates for his lack of weaponry.</p><p>
With every step we took to bring us closer to the spaceship ahead, the louder the battle to our left became even though they continued to be well far away from us. Screams are heard as well as curses to Knox’s followers. Hundreds of blasters are going off, probably from the Virmuses, but only a Talten is heard collapsing from the shots. Horns, those from Tauvoxes, rip through flesh, and screams follow suit, but Knox’s side isn’t in complete control of the battle. I smelt flesh being burned. Some of the Taltens set a few Tauvoxes, which howled to the night sky, on fire. Sakhra’s group is pulling their weight in the fight, hitting the opposing side with their symbols.</p><p>
In the corner of my eye, Sakhra’s group slaughters hundreds on Knox’s side. I can’t even imagine how many have been killed. The battlefield must be covered in bodies, blood, and whatever insects are on this planet. While over here, it sounds brutal enough; the fight taking place above our heads doesn’t seem too merciless either. Several factions of Space Pirates are shooting at each other. Thousands are probably fighting outside of their ships, fighting out in space. There must be hundreds of corpses floating out in outer space now.</p><p>
One of the ships catches my eyes. Banners stretch over their sides. Those long strips of cloth have the symbol of the Lords, which means one of the battalions has joined the fight. This must be their last stand against Commander Knox, but Saamuki’s Tauvoxes aren’t taking part in it. Knox would know we’re here if they were, but the lieutenant is in command of the ship if they’re spotted.</p><p>
Saamuki activated her screen, which has the layout of the ship. She took a moment to study it, and then she motions for it to vanish. “Shiitakee, this will take a bit. Watch out backs and,” she turns to me then continues with, “Make sure both of your weapons are at the ready in case there’s someone on the other side.” With that, she held down her blaster’s trigger, causing it to become a blowtorch. Sparks flew, and the metal groaned as its being forced to tear. I held my weapons even tighter as she got closer to finishing. When the piece finally gave way, we were thankfully not greeted by someone pointing their blaster at our heads but instead a four-sided hole the right size for each of us to easily slide into and enter a dimly lit room with flickering lights and some crates. The room must be for storage. Our leader’s eyes are fully engulfed in blue. Then, as quickly as they swallowed the rest of her eyes, they went back to just filling her pupils.</p><p>
“I didn’t see anyone in the room. So, let’s go.”</p><p>
We stepped inside. The room is far more expansive than what it looked like on the outside. It’s about the size of the library, but a lot colder. Someone set the air conditioner to the max, it seems. I’m shivering even with this armor. Shiitakee is too, but not Saamuki. She has her supernatural powers to thank for that.</p><p>
For such a big room, there isn’t much in here. We walk past a few crates as tall as Shiitakee. “Those boxes are giving me the creeps. Please, can we walk a bit faster? They’re weirding me out and I’ve been friends with Syco for years.”</p><p>
Saamuki jokingly remarks, “I’ve known Cabelo all my life and I have to tell you Syco has nothing on Cabelo.”</p><p>
“Cabelo? That guy that owns that whole sex hotel? That Cabelo?” She nods. “I knew you looked familiar, but I wasn’t sure since you’re you know wearing that whole get up. Never heard that you had the whole blue thing going on until, well, we met, but it’s really cool. I wish I could do what you can. I would’ve shot Syco a long time ago.”</p><p>
She giggles. “I haven’t always been able to shoot fire out of my hands. My powers are recent. It has some ups and downs too.” She shrugs.</p><p>
“You got to tell me the story behind it, especially how you and her met. A human. Wow. I mean Syco already told me a long time ago, but I’d still love to hear it from you two. Also, about your friends that are on this ship. Who’s Mikrovos? Syco complained about him plenty.”</p><p>
I felt the tension emanating from Saamuki. She is facing away from me, but I just know the mention of Mikrovos made her uncomfortable. Her vibe is making me uncomfortable, but Shiitakee hasn’t noticed. Our backstories must’ve distracted him from his worries, but I get a terrible feeling. So, I slide the dagger underneath my breastplate, grab Saamuki’s hand, and bolt towards the door. Shiitakee follows suit but asks what’s happening while he’s trying to catch up with us. Saamuki is questioning too. Both are answered when a hand to my left smashes through its wooden container. We’ve run past it, and I try not to look back around, but it’s Shiitakee’s cursing that gets me then Saamuki to glance back. An oozy, hairless, and eyeless body goes splat onto the metal floor. Their mouth opens, or what is supposed to be one does, as strands of skin have stuck parts of their lips together. They struggle to make a noise. They muster out a groan and begin crawling towards us. Their slime spreads around them and trails behind them as they slither closer to us. When we’re right about to exit through the door, they reach their hand towards us. I turn back around and force myself, with Saamuki still holding onto me, to sprint the distance left. Once the two of us then Shiitakee finally escape, I get out my blaster and shoot the door’s control panel. Whatever it is won’t be reaching us anytime soon.</p><p>
As the three of us try catching out breaths, Shiitakee comments, “Thanks for almost leaving me back there. A little warning next time, don’t you think, but what the hell was even that? Saamuki, I thought you said you didn’t see anyone in that room?”</p><p>
“I-I didn’t. It must not have a soul.” I’m hit with another sense. I look away from them. My grip on Saamuki tightens. I’m standing stiff. “What’s wrong,” she asked me.</p><p>
I respond to her, “Her.” On the other side of the hallway is a red-headed figure. Unlike the last time I saw her, she’s been fitted with gauntlets that stretch to her elbows. Like before, her eyes are dead.</p><p>
“Who’s she?” Shiitakee finally looks to where Saamuki and I are looking.</p><p>
“Ashely,” I told him.</p>
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